An Election Day Q&A With Cindy Bass

Cindy Bass voted at this morning, just as she has in past elections.

This time, though, she was ostensibly there to vote for herself. Bass is the Democratic nominee in the 8th Council District race and she's opposed by independent Brian Rudnick on Election Day today.

Patch caught up with Bass as she was leaving her polling location in the morning to talk to her about how things were going.

How has the day been going so far?

It's going very well. We were out talking to voters this morning, shaking hands and listening to their concerns and their interests. The turnout is lighter than we had hoped, but it is similar to what was expected and projected, so we're just out talking to folks and trying to get the vote out as much as we possibly can and encouraging people that we see in other places to not forget to vote.

Where else are you planning on going today?

We're planning on going throughout the entire 8th District. We've been in the 9th and 22nd Ward. We still have the 59th, the 17th, the 11th, the 12th and the 13th to go to, so we're going to be pretty busy up until 8 o'clock tonight.

Is it nice to come back here to your home polling place to vote?

It is. This is home. I'm usually working here and it's always a good place to be. You see your friends here, your neighbors. For that extra boost of support, it's always a great place.

Do you feel like it's over?

It's not over 'til it's over. 8 o'clock, 8:01 it will be over and I expect that we will have a victory. I'm very excited, and I'm looking forward to working on council.

What are your emotions today?

I'm excited about the possibilities. There are a lot of expectations—I want to make sure I'm able to do the things that people expect of me and expect of a district councilperson. I just really want to make sure that I'm able to do what it is that people need and want to see in their district. There are a lot of concerns, whether it's crime, or jobs—jobs is a big issue, and the education system, pretty much everywhere I go people want to talk about the schools in the district, where they're sending their kids to schools and what the problems and issues are. And so those are the things that I'm ready tackle and just really get down to and start right away.