» This is a cross-post from FutureofFresno, likely one of my last on that site before I give it away.

The June 3 election was predicted to persuade few voters to cast their ballot, but even with advanced warning it's a bit depressing to look at the numbers; just over 20% of registered voters decided who went into the mayoral runoff. Despite their cumulative total, the percentage each mayoral candidate received seemed to follow early polls, with Perea and Swearengin within 250 votes of each other, and with each receiving more than twice the votes of any other candidate.

With nine candidates now removed from the equation, voters who turn out in November might take the local political process a little more seriously; it's hard to put much trust in a race with so many varied personalities, many of whom were nothing more than a distraction from a legitimate race. Still, many of the fallen nine ran with altruistic intentions of leading Fresno in the post-Autry era. So why didn't they make it into the runoff? The answer to that question is as colorful as each character on the ballot, but one mistake runs fairly consistently through the campaigns these campaigns.

Perea and Swearengin were leaders in the race from the very start. They were the big threat. They were the ones to beat. They were the easy target. Ads referring to Perea as “Jr.” or “junior” and implying negative ties to West Hollywood, or inferring Swearengin's lack of success, because of a rebounding unemployment rate that occurs from many circumstances outside of her—or anyone else's—control, exposed the fear in the heart of their creators…or at least their endorsers.

Granted, tactics employed in this race seem the standard in politics. But perhaps the far-from-frontrunners should have banded together, and agreed to attack only each other. Every ad against Perea and/or Swearengin only made their name even more household. As the public consumed these attacks, the names that kept echoing in their heads afterwards were the ones that we'll now be voting on in November.

Certainly, there are other significant pieces to this rather exhausting (and for some, embarrassing) mockery of the political process. But it's important for the public to know who candidates are, and ads that single out other candidates ultimately give them greater exposure. Perea and Swearengin might do well thank their competitors for helping secure the lead.