Feeling cheated, Fresno? Truncated mayoral race serves no one except the winning side
While watching the results of Fresno’s mayoral primary trickle in Tuesday night, I couldn’t help but think of Johnny Rotten’s famous last words following the Sex Pistols’ final concert in 1978.
Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?
Because you’ve been cheated, Fresno. Cheated of a robust mayoral campaign featuring real back-and-forth between the two main candidates. One that deserved to last all the way until November rather than be settled in a manner of weeks.
My use of the word “cheated” has nothing to do with the integrity of the voting process. I’m not making any accusations or raising any suspicions, regardless of what computer snafus may or may not have occurred.
Nor does it have to do with the fact that Jerry Dyer appears likely to garner at least 50 percent of the vote — barring a significant reversal in the estimated 40,000 ballots left to be tabulated citywide.
I chose that word because the citizens of Fresno deserved better than what they apparently got: a truncated, rump roast of a campaign with precious little substantial debate between Dyer and Andrew Janz.
It was less of an issue-based campaign and more of a rapid-fire familiarity contest. And California deciding to bump its primary from June to March to be part of Super Tuesday only exacerbated the problem.
Something felt amiss about Fresno’s mayoral race from the outset — and not just because the incumbent, Lee Brand, threw in the towel.
Dyer’s cynical campaign strategy
Let’s start with Dyer, who deserves credit for not resorting to the negative tactics employed against him by both Janz and Rising Together–No on Dyer 2020, an independent political action committee.
Fresno’s longtime police chief was never more visible than he was last fall during his retirement/appreciation/campaign kickoff tour. Dyer gave rousing speeches, posed next to a 14-foot-tall metal statue commissioned in his honor and Hoovered every scrap of media attention in sight.
But since that time, Dyer’s public profile shrank. He skipped several candidate forums — and not just the ones organized by progressive groups. Dyer even gave the cold shoulder to KMPH 26, owned and operated by the notoriously conservative Sinclair Broadcasting Group, which was airing his campaign ads.
Oh sure, Dyer was happy to answer questions before the Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club, Kiwanis Club and the like. Just as long as he was allowed to sidestep any actual debate. Instead of actually living out his campaign slogan of “One Fresno,” Dyer’s approach was “Part of Fresno.”
It’s as if Dyer’s campaign team decided, “OK, you’ve done enough” months before the primary and placed him in bubble wrap for the duration.
That may indeed prove to be a winning strategy, but it’s also a cynical one. Who needs sunlight when we can conduct a winning campaign in darkness?
Too little, too late for Janz
Janz had a different problem. Despite declaring his candidacy last April, the Fresno County deputy district attorney didn’t turn up the volume until January. Which may prove to be too late.
Part of that had to do with Janz’s demanding job and family situation, which are understandable. Still, the delayed fuse left him little time to make his message heard to those naturally inclined to vote for Dyer.
Based on the early returns, Janz failed to make those inroads.
When he wasn’t knocking Dyer, Janz did discuss the many issues facing California’s fifth-largest city with more depth than his opponent. But too many times Janz was speaking to an empty chair. Those optics did not help his cause.
How many times did Dyer and Janz occupy the same stage and engage in an actual debate compelling both to explain their positions in depth and parry each other’s counters? Not nearly enough.
Which is why I sincerely hoped neither Dyer nor Janz would notch 50% of the vote in Tuesday’s primary. That outcome would force both of them to actually address voters and debate issues over the next eight months. Which would’ve allowed more people to become engaged in the process rather than make a snap decision based on perceptions and whims.
Barring a significant shift in the ballots yet to be counted, that looks unlikely to happen. Which is a real shame.
Sorry to bearer of grumpy news, Fresno, but you’ve been cheated. To borrow another term from the Sex Pistols, this mayoral campaign was pretty vacant.
