At Hometown Key West's "call to candidates" sometime in April 2018, after being introduced by Hometown's Chairman and my good friend Todd German to the mostly affluent white audience at Salute Ristorante on Higgs Beach, I said something like, "Everyone knows Key West is an open air insane asylum and I'm known here as the chief lunatic, so why not make it official? Vote crazy! Sloan for mayor!"
The following days, weeks and months in the mayor's race were definitely entertaining, and if generating laughs at candidate forums and debates counted for anything, I won that race going away.
However, from the Monroe County (Florida Keys) Supervisor of Elections website: https://www.keys-elections.org/Election-Data/Past-County-Results-2009-Current
2018 Primary
Election Date: 8/28/2018
City of Key West Mayor
Participating Precincts Reporting: 10 / 10
| Choice | Election Day | Vote By | Early Votes | Provisional | Total Votes | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sloan Bashinsky (STATS) | 19 | 20 | 11 | 0 | 50 | 0.79% |
| Randy Becker (STATS) | - | - | - | - | 418 | 6.64% |
| George Bellenger (STATS) | - | - | - | - | 1,311 | 20.82% |
| Bill Foley (STATS) | - | - | - | - | 55 | 0.87% |
| Teri Johnston (STATS) | 1,242 | 1,281 | 554 | 0 | 3,077 | 48.86% |
| Carie Noda (STATS) | - | - | - | - | 48 | 0.76% |
| Margaret A Romero (STATS) | - | - | - | - | 1,339 | 21.26% |
After seeing that tally, I told some Key West friends that I figured my time in Key West and the Florida Keys was winding down. 6 Key West mayor races, 3 county commission races, and 1 school board race in all of which I didn't come anywhere close to scaring getting elected. Whew! I had said ongoing that anyone who actually wanted the positions was insane and the only reason I was doing it was because angels had told me to do it if I knew what was good for me!
So, in November 2018, I moved back to Alabama, where I was born and raised, and had learned early on that I seemed different from most people and was ashamed of it. Today, well, I learned during my wanderings that trying to be something I ain't takes a lot of energy and causes disease and general unhappiness, and, well, it just ain't worth it.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
As for the Mississippi State Baseball sweatshirt, it belonged to my son-in-law, who is that college's athletic director. I stole it from him, after he gave me a couple designer Mississippi State sweatshirts, but all I wanted was the old timey cotton kind. I have my own Mississippi State cowbell, too, which I clanked sometimes in Jack Flats Sports bar in Key West, when the Bulldogs football team played on one of the big screens.
I haven't rung it yet in any Alabama sports bars. Stay tuned ...
anomalousinvestigations@gmail.com
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