Despite cold temperatures and falling snow, voters in the City of Fennimore were eager to cast their ballots early Tuesday morning, Nov. 6.
“By the time we opened the doors and had the polls open at 7 a.m., there was a line to the door,” said by Bob Craig, one of the city’s three chief election inspectors.
When the unofficial results were tallied at the Memorial Building well over 13 hours later, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden turned back the challenge of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, 645-487.
A total of 1,148 voters cast a ballot in Fennimore. A final canvass of ballots throughout Grant County will be held this week.
Fennimore native Elias Cox celebrated his 19th birthday on Election Day by casting a ballot in his first presidential election. He previously participated in the recall election earlier this year.
A busy college freshman at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, Cox did not have time to watch much of the three presidential debates. To “do his homework,” so to speak, Cox gathered knowledge from the Internet, his parents and even Facebook.
“I looked up a little bit, but not a lot,” he said. “I kind of have my own feelings of politics.”
When polls closed in Wisconsin at 8 p.m., the number of Facebook users across the country that indicated they had voted totaled 8,373,134.
Cox said at no time during the campaign was he an undecided voter.
“I had my mind made up when the two main candidates were determined,” he said. “I knew who I was going to vote for.”
To Cox, one of the most important issues in the election was the ever-growing national debt.
“How are we going to solve that?” he asked. “It is going to fall on our generation and the generation after us.”
He also mentioned health care, war in the Middle East and the oil crisis that continues to grip the country.
Regardless of the outcome of the election, Cox believes brighter days are ahead for America.
“We are a strong country. I love this country,” he said. “We are strong, close people and I feel like we can take on anything no matter who wins an election.
“How our government is set up, all the checks and balances, no one is going to take over. I think we are going to be OK.”
49th Assembly District
In the race for a seat in the 49th Assembly District, incumbent Representative Travis Tranel defeated challenger Carol Beals in Fennimore, 613-496, according to unofficial results.
Tranel earned a second term, having unseated incumbent Phil Garthwaite in 2010. He defeated David Kuhle in a Republican primary early this year.
