By CAROL A. CLARK
Publisher
Los Alamos Daily Post

With just five days left until the 2020 General Election on Tuesday, we at the Los Alamos Daily Post want to take this opportunity to commend each of the candidates in the Dist. 43 and Los Alamos County Council races.

While it’s no secret that Los Alamos tops national lists for the healthiest, smartest, best place to live, the Post and many of our readers have noticed a surprising new attribute to make our community proud – the admirable conduct of our local candidates during this incredibly contentious political season.

Unlike races at the state and national level, our local candidates chose to refrain from personal attacks against one another, instead focusing their campaigns on the issues.

Some spoke out against Party differences but all drew the line at insulting individual candidates. One of our local candidates mentioned that at the risk of losing a voter’s support, he asked that person to stop disparaging one of his opponents and steered the conversation to civic concerns.

Despite Party differences between our Democratic, Republican, Independent and Libertarian candidates, we’ve noticed how they have treated each other with dignity and respect during virtual political forums, in the press and on social media. Two of these candidates – from different Parties – actually came out publicly and endorsed each other.

Unlike typical election seasons, we at the Post did not receive a single “leak” or “whisper” of a negative nature lodged against opponents from any of our local candidates during this election cycle.

So, for bucking the trend and setting a stellar example for conducting political campaigns to make any community proud, we at the Post commend Dist. 43 Rep. Christine Chandler (D), Challenger David Hampton, (R ) and our six County Council Candidates Denise Derkacs (D), David Reagor (R), James Rickman (L), Rodney Roberson (D), Aaron Walker (I) and Sean Williams (D).

These are the moments that remind us it’s a privilege to live in Los Alamos.