Halverson vs. Munson: Round by Round

I thought it would be fun to tally up the score between Bruce Halverson and Dave Munson. Here we go!

Round One

Munson initially said he wasn't running for mayor. He went so far as to talk his friend, Bruce Halverson, into running (which resulted in some of his PAC money go to Halverson as well). But then he changed his mind and entered the race. I've never heard of an incumbent giving themselves a handicap like that before. And it kind of made him a flip-flopper.

1 point for Halverson

But it did show that Munson has a lot of support.

1 point for Munson

Round Two

Halverson was the first candidate to get commercials on the air. His strategy was to get his name out there so people will know who he is. Plus the commercials were nice.

"Vote for my dad. He's great!"

1 point for Halverson

Round Three

For some dumb reason the Argus Leader released the political party affiliations of all 11 candidates for mayor. I don't think political parties should matter in a mayoral race, but I'll use it for this tally anyway.

Munson - Republican
Halverson - Independent

1 point for Halverson

Round Four

Debating the issues before the first election was hard, I imagine. A lot of the candidates were pretty much saying the same thing in regards to issues like the Lewis and Clark project.

Tie

Round Five

The first election. Munson got a higher percentage of votes than Halverson did.

1 point for Munson

Round Six

Halverson is in a tough spot because he has to criticize his friend Munson about his failures as a mayor.

1 point for Halverson

While doing so, he keeps saying that Munson is "a good man."

1 point for Munson

Round Seven

Both candidates favor building a new events center. Munson wants it built downtown even though practically everyone in Sioux Falls disagrees with him.

1 point for Halverson

Round Eight

Munson keeps the focus on his successes during his time as mayor. Good strategy.

1 point for Munson

Round Nine

An article comes out saying that Halverson raised $64 million for Augustana... $14 million (over 25%) more than their goal. The implication was strong that he can do the same for Sioux Falls.

1 point for Halverson

Round Ten

Both candidates begin an aggressive ad campaign with commercials on TV and radio. Both have pretty good commercials.

Tie

Yesterday I heard a Munson ad on the radio where he had an Augustana graduate supporting him. That made me laugh.

1 point for Munson

Round Eleven

Lately there has been an anonymous poster, claiming to be from Augie, going around the blogs and trashing Halverson. He/She is annoying and possibly works for the Munson campaign.

1 point for Halverson

Total

Halverson = 7
Munson = 5

I probably forgot a few things, but it's not like this was a scientific poll. I'll do a final tally when the election results are in.

Happy voting!