This is the day of political last resort.
When polls open this morning at 7 a.m., candidates will have precisely 12 more hours to make their pitch to voters before time runs out on the primary-election season. And that means today — after months and even years of behind-the-scenes maneuvering, debates, commercials, mailings, phone calls and home visits — candidates will resort to the tried and true: standing on a street corner with a sign, hoping it persuades one more person to vote for them.
“Right now it boils down to retail politics. Meet as many voters as you can,” said Mike Hesse, the campaign manager for Republican 5th Congressional District candidate Bentley Rayburn, one of three men competing for the party’s nomination.
With a large number of people receiving mail-in ballots this year and a relatively tiny number of people taking advantage of early voting at polling places, county clerks have said they have no idea how many people might show up to vote today.
The polls are open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. Voters affiliated with a party may cast a ballot for candidates of that party. Unaffiliated voters may declare a party affiliation at their polling place and cast that party’s ballot.
People who have received absentee ballots can drop them off in person at various locations around their county. People should contact their county’s clerk or go to the clerk’s website for more voting information.
In addition to the honk-and-wave, candidates and their volunteers will be out walking neighborhoods and making loads of phone calls.
“A blur, that’s what it’s going to look like,” Democratic 2nd Congressional District candidate Joan Fitz-Gerald, who is running against two others for the nomination, said of the last few days of her campaign.
But, even with the random blasts of campaigning, candidates also are zeroing in on the few remaining voters who have yet to cast a ballot. Republican 6th Congressional District candidate Mike Coffman, in a four-way race for the nomination, has been making phone calls to registered Republicans who have voted in at least three of the past four primaries but have not requested a mail-in ballot this year.
Dustin Zvonek, Coffman’s campaign manager, said every vote matters.
“In a close race, absolutely,” Zvonek said.
Staff writer Jessica Fender contributed to this report.
John Ingold: 303-954-1068 or jingold@denverpost.com
