Now it’s down to Afzali, Gardner, and Robbins seeking the top spot in Frederick County government.

While all the speculators were placing bets on which of the three Republican candidates would rise to victory on June 26th, the supporters of the unopposed Democrat and current County Executive Jan Gardner were still putting up enumerable signs along the roadways from Mt. Airy to Myersville and Point of Rocks to Thurmont in preparation for the November general election.

For Afzali, it really wasn’t that much of a primary contest, and while she displayed a subdued demeanor on election night, she took nothing for granted during her campaign by pushing her scrappy crusading spirit to the max. It was back in the fall of last year that she confidently shared with me her prediction that she would easily win the GOP primary. With support and training from the Michael Hough School of Gorilla Campaigning, Kathy and her volunteers captured just less than half (6,813) of all the 15,921 Republican votes cast in the three-way race.

But now Afzali faces a very different challenge during the one hundred and twenty some odd days before the general election. Consider the following questions:

1. After the bitterness that bubbled up between her camp and that of the outspoken and unfiltered Kirby Delauter, can she mend the fences and win over his 5,179 supporters?
2. In a county where sometimes every single vote counts, will Regina Williams direct her Republican 3,929 supporters in a certain direction or just set them free?
3. Speaking of freedom, of the vast majority of voters who did not vote in the primary, will they care enough to show up to the polls 4 months from now?
4. Will the unaffiliated, mild-mannered and even-tempered former Democrat Earl Robbins, who gathered enough signatures to skip the primary and go straight to the general election, win over enough frustrated voters from both parties to score a surprising upset?
5. … and to whom will that upset victory go? Afzali or Robbins?

On a local scale, there could be a lot of political intrigue or just another Gardner landslide. It really depends on how each of the three camps map out and execute their plans.

It may be an interesting catfight … or just a big yawn!

Stay tuned, and enjoy your summer!