Spring Break
Student falls short of win for hometown council seat
BRIAN MINK
Issue date: 11/8/07 Section: News
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The 20-year-old junior experienced it first-hand Tuesday when he fell three votes shy of winning a city council bid in his hometown of Hampton. He requested a recount of the ballots in the Henry County town of about 3,800.
"I've lived here in Hampton all my life, and I decided it was time to get involved in a more in-depth way," said Patterson, a business management major and political neophyte whose presence in the race made it one of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's five races to watch in metro Atlanta Tuesday.
Patterson and six other candidates, including three incumbents, vied for three council seats.
The top three vote-winners were elected to the seats, Patterson said.
Patterson said he decided to enter because of his passion for politics and desire to see his community prosper economically.
"Primarily I ran on one thing, and that was building economic development in the city," he said. "I don't want to blast any other candidates, but nobody's formally educated. Nobody knows about economic development."
Patterson finished behind incumbent Arley Lowe, with 279 votes to Lowe's 282, according to The Henry County Herald. Both men garnered approximately 15 percent of the 1,800 votes cast.
Patterson said he wishes more young people would take an interest in politics.
"I think governments around the country would be better off if people got involved at a young age," he said. "City councils and all governments in general should be representative of the people they serve."
Patterson, who works and attends school full time about two hours from the area he seeks to represent, said most of his campaigning took the form of mass mailings. Patterson sent about 2,000 pieces of mail and spent approximately $2,500 on his campaign - around $1,500 from his own pocket and $1,000 from outside contributions.
"I had a lot of contributions, mostly from Libertarian sources and some just from people I know in the community," he said.
"My mother was born and raised here, my grandmother was born and raised here. Between me and my family, we know a lot of people," he said. "A lot of people who might not have gotten out and voted did because they knew me and helped take a part in raising me."
Patterson said he hopes his age did not negatively impact his candidacy.
"If they didn't know me, it played a factor, but if people know me, they know how committed I am and it wouldn't have played a factor to those people," he said.
If Monday's recount doesn't fall in his favor, Patterson said it's possible he'll run again in the future.
"Of course I would have loved to win, but I think I made a good showing for a 20-year-old first-time candidate," he said.
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