An observation

I have noticed an increasing trend in Washington County politics. Active campaigning before the nominating processes are over. Some time ago, candidates waited until after the mass meetings/conventions to start placing yard signs, doing mailings, etc. This was true even if the candidate was unopposed for the nomination. However, this year is different. Several months before the mass meetings, candidate signs are every where in the county. What has changed?

When I ran for the County Board of Supervisors 8 years ago, I entered using the underdog thinking. It was an open seat with the incumbent retiring after many years of service. My thinking was, it was time to throw my hat in. What has changed is that we're seeing many of our long time politicians step down to retire or to run for higher office in the county. In their stead, we're seeing people with substantive experience in the offices of these constitutional offices, Commisioner of Revenue, Circuit Court Clerk, etc. The names aren't as familiar to the public as the incumbents. That has changed the way campaigning works in Washington County.