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N.D. PRIMARY ELECTIONS: 'Ooh-rah!' It's Mac

Marine wins GF council Ward 2 race from Iraq; Bakken wins Ward 6

By Tu-Uyen Tran
Herald Staff Writer

Bud Hein and his wife, Betty, vote in the North Dakota primary election Tuesday in the Grand Forks Public Library.
Herald photo by Jackie Lorentz

"We've got a raid going on right now, and I can't do anything for another 90 minutes. Can I call you then or is it too late?"

Thus went the e-mail from Maj. Mike McNamara from Fallujah, Iraq, replying to a request for an interview following his victory in the Grand Forks City Council Ward 2 race.

The race had been an intense one with four other candidates fighting for the same office and all of them having the advantage of being in town during the campaign.

Not that Mac, as he is often known, didn't have advantages of his own being both a local media celebrity - he's the host of "Mac Talk" on KNOX radio - and a Marine in a time when the military enjoys the most prestige it's had since World War II.

As things turned out, he had no problem wooing the voters. Mac got 49 percent of the 695 votes cast in Ward 2, the city ward with the biggest voter turnout. His closest rival was Jon Dorner, who had 19 percent of the vote.

Mac's wife, Susan, who went door-to-door on his behalf with their children and other volunteers, said no one they spoke with thought his being away was a problem. She said it would be no different than when current council members are away during meetings: They call in.

Mac is scheduled to return in 93 days, according to his Web site, VoteMcNamara.com.

Ward 2 wasn't the only race, of course, just the most intense. In Ward 4, Council President Hal Gershman was unchallenged and, in Ward 6, former council member Art Bakken is back after four year's absence. Bakken won 54 percent of 441 votes cast.

While he and his erstwhile rival Tom Potter were of different political orientations - Bakken a conservative and Potter a liberal - the two shared very similar views on the major issues.

"A lot of it is just common sense," Bakken said.

Both said they wanted to put a freeze on property taxes and both thought the city needs to explore other options for its proposed landfill, which is now in litigation.

But Bakken might not be around very long. Depending on the direction the city is going in four years, the 60-year-old said, he might just step aside and let someone younger run.

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