Ozark had its first mayoral debate in many years on October 23, 2018. The debate was held at the Performing Arts Center at the Ozark Junior High School and ran by Ozark High School’s AP Government/Class and KDYN. Around 150 to 200 people were present and over five thousand watched on Facebook live. Steve Whitaker and Roxie Hall chose to participate in the debate, but the incumbent candidate, T.R. McNutt, declined the offer. Comprehensive issues within the town were discussed as well as clear-cut issues. Hall’s attitude in the event was positive at times and negative at other times, which makes sense because at that time she was on city council but was also running against the current mayor. Steve Whitaker’s plan to spend three million dollars as soon as he would take office is important to Ozark because that is a great amount of money and he could also get Ozark state funding after he spends it. Mrs. Hall’s plan was to save the money because they need some cushioning. I believe Steve Whiteaker won the debate; he was more precise with his answers and seemed like he cared more about the town. Mrs. Hall said “those who know me” many times which was an attempt to get votes by making her seem popular among people. She also lost respect when she said “we don’t do that in this town” after Mr. Whiteaker had said that she called him something vulgar at a city council meeting.
T.R. McNutt and Roxie Hall are having a run-off in December because none of the candidates recieved over 50% of the vote. Who do you think will win? How much of an effect do you think the debate had on voters? If you could change something about how we ran the debate, what would it be?
I believe that T.R. McNutt will win, despite not being at the debate, because he has more experience and has several ideas for projects that will improve our city. I think it had a large impact because it gave voters a look at what the candidates believe and what they plan for our future.I would have put out more flyers and advertise it better so that the public has better chances to know about and attend the debate.
ReplyDeleteI think that whoever wins will depend on the amount of presence that each candidate shows in the coming weeks. T.R. McNutt has the advantage that Roxie Hall does not have. The town of Ozark already knows his plans and hopes for the town, whereas Mrs. Hall's have been murky at best. I think that if Roxie Hall comes out and makes a stand in the coming weeks, she will have a shot at becoming Mayor of Ozark.
ReplyDeleteI think that T.R. McNutt is likely to win simply because he has more experience than Roxie Hall and the people trust that experience. The debate may have had some influence but obviously not enough that Mr. McNutt's absence swayed very many voters away from him. If I could change anything I would change our exit polls and then publish our results afterwards.
ReplyDeleteI think that Roxie Hall will win since she had more votes than McNutt. I believe that McNutt's absence from the debate might hurt him. To me, him not showing up for the debate made him look weak.
ReplyDeleteI do not believe that the debate will have an effect on the race. With that being said though, I believe Roxie will have enough support from the town of Ozark to win. If I could change how we ran the debate I would probably just want to change the amount of time we had and allow our class more time to make it more known to the public.
ReplyDeleteI beleive that the debate did have an affect on the race. It made the public more aware of the change that needed to happen in the city of Ozark. Becuase of this need for change I think that Roxie Hall will win the Debate.
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ReplyDeleteI believe that Roxie Hall will now win strictly because of the debate and the fact that TR chose not to participate. As much as I would like to believe that the debate had an effect on the vote, it obviously did not because McNutt still received more votes than Steve. But, I think that we ran the debate well.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Roxie Hall will win the election. With T.R. McNutt not participating in the debate, it hurt his chances at winning the position. I would change how long we had before the debate, one week was very rushed and many things could have been improved with more prep time.
ReplyDeleteI believe Roxie Hall will win over T.R. McNutt. She has had a lot of supporters, and T.R. not going to the debate probably changed the opinions of some voters.
ReplyDeleteI foresee Roxie Hall winning the election. She's a good balance of new ideas and a well maintained reputation. She also generated the most votes during the election. I wish we would have spent more time considering and developing the entrance and exit poll questions. Without any meaningful conclusion to draw from the polls, it is difficult to determine if our debate had any real impact on the actual election. It is possible that our debate had no impact whatsoever, but I'd like to believe it did to some degree.
ReplyDeleteI feel like Roxie would win. It will be close though! I feel like the debate had a medium effect on the election. If I could change one thing about the debate I would change T.R. McNutt being there.
ReplyDeleteI personally think that Roxie Hall will win the election in the end. Though Hall and McNutt had comparable support, I feel like supporters of Steve Whiteaker will vote for Roxie in the runoff election. Though Whiteaker did not make it in the primary election, his supporters more than likely still want a change in power in the mayors position and will probably vote for Roxie Hall.
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