I remain on my baseball break, but I would like to share a story with the Hot Stove Village about the power of one vote. The story is from 50 years ago, but its retelling seems timely in an era tainted by the Big Lie and election denialism.
Fifty years ago today. November 28, 1972. The final vote count was 14,071 to 14,070.
The one-vote winner was Mike White who defeated Paul Kartsonis in the general election for a Jackson County legislature seat. Election Day had been November 7, but the closeness of the election resulted in a 3-week delay in the final count.
This was a great example of the power of one vote. And at a personal level, it changed my life. But I could not know that at the time.
The 1972 County Elections: Before 1973, Jackson County was governed by an administrative court of three judges. The structure dated back to the territorial form of government in 1815. It was on this court that Harry Truman got his start in politics in 1922 – his first race (he won) was 100 years ago this month.
That was still the structure when I started in politics in the Young Democrats in 1968. The sitting county court judges at that time were Presiding Judge Charles Curry, Western Judge Charlie Wheeler and Eastern Judge Alex Petrovic. Those three had successfully led the bond issue campaign in 1967 for several county improvements, including Hospital Hill and the Truman Sports Complex.
The Curry/Wheeler/Petrovic court also changed the course of county government by initiating voter approval in 1970 of a new county charter. One of the major activities of our Young Democrats club was gathering part of the 60,000 signatures needed to place the issue on the ballot.
In that same 1970 election, George Lehr was elected Presiding Judge (Curry did not run for reelection), Harry Wiggins was elected Western Judge (Wheeler had lost to Lehr in the Presiding Judge race), and Joe Bolger was elected Eastern Judge (defeating Alex Petrovic).
Under the new charter, the county court and many of the elected department heads (collector, recorder, assessor, etc.) were eliminated as of January 1, 1973. They were replaced by a County Executive (a position to be assumed by incumbent Presiding Judge George Lehr) who would appoint those department heads, and a 15-member county legislature to be elected in 1972 and take office in 1973.
Mike White filed in the Democratic primary for the third district seat in that inaugural county legislature.
Third District Seat – 1972 Primary Election: I met Mike in law school, and we both became young lawyers at trial firms downtown. I knew he was interested in environmental issues, but it was a surprise when he told me he was going to run for office.
Since this was an election for the first legislature under the charter, there were no incumbents. This led to crowded races in the primaries, and Mike’s third district was no exception. His district was in southwest Kansas City, and the key Democratic political organization was the Committee for County Progress (CCP). The CCP had been formed in the mid-1960s by former Presiding Judge Charles Curry, and it had a successful track record in county politics.
Mike had an immediate problem. A long-time CCP board member was running for the third district and was virtually assured of getting the CCP endorsement. Mike planned to run without CCP support, believing he still had a good chance in the crowded field. I was on the CCP board and encouraged him to go through the screening process. Even though he was not likely to get the endorsement, he would still want the CCP to know he was a strong candidate. If he won the primary, he would have built up some good will that would help in the general.
The CCP screening committee handling the third district was chaired by former Eastern Judge Alex Petrovic. He was a mentor to our Young Democrats club and told me that the committee was likely to endorse the CCP board member. Also on the committee was Pat Hininger, a friend from the Young Democrats. Although she liked Mike, she didn’t hold out much hope. But Mike charmed the screening committee, and an excited Pat Hininger called me with the news that Mike was the unanimous choice. This carried over with the full board, and Mike had the CCP endorsement. The CCP member dropped out of the race.
Below, Alex Petrovic and Pat Hininger (about 40 years after that CCP vote for Mike White).
On August 8, Mike won the primary. He got 3,282 votes (33%). His two top opponents got 2,532 (25.5% ) and 1,992 (20%). The other four candidates each got less than a thousand. Mike was on his way to the general election.
Third District Seat – 1972 General Election: The third district boundaries had been drawn to create a district that was expected to be a toss-up between the Republican and Democratic nominees. Talk about prescient.
Mike’s Republican opponent was Paul Kartsonis, a local businessman engaged in various civic activities. As reported by Henry Clay Gold in the Kansas City Star, the district had changing voting patterns influenced by an influx of Jewish and Catholic families. “The changes might be expected to benefit White but Republicans believe the ethnic name and family ties of Kartsonis may attract minorities to his candidacy.”
Gold also said White had “upset Catholics with his leadership of the Kansas City chapter of Zero Population Growth.” This was one of Mike’s environmental issues, not necessarily an abortion position, but some promoted it that way. This was one year before the Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade.
But the campaigns of the candidates focused on county issues. As recounted by Louis Kartsonis (Paul’s son) in a piece written in 1992, “In retrospect, the campaign was notable for being issue-oriented. When the candidates met, the debate centered on crime, health services and development.”
Election Day: The Kartsonis camp had reasons to be hopeful. Paul had received the Kansas City Star’s endorsement, then considered persuasive in that area of the city. There was also a public relations coup in an endorsement letter to Republicans from Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew who were on their way to a national landslide victory.
But as the returns from voting at the polls came in on election night, Mike led by 132 votes. Only about 1500 absentee ballots needed counting, and that would be announced the next morning. Louis Kartsonis says his dad resigned himself to defeat and went to bed. Mike White went to bed thinking he had won.
The Next Day: Early Wednesday morning, the absentee vote was added in and Kartsonis tentatively took the lead.
That afternoon, the Kansas City Star declared Kartsonis the winner based on an unofficial count of 13,917-13,846, a winning margin of 71 votes.
The paper ran these photos of the “winners” forming the new 15-member legislature. Paul Kartsonis is top row, second from right.
It turned out to be a “Dewey Defeats Truman” moment.
[Legislature Chairman Trivia: Dr. Harry Jonas (top row, third from left) was elected chairman of the inaugural legislature. After serving his four-year term, Harry joined the administration of the UMKC School of Medicine and became dean in 1978. One of the staffers at the medical school was Hot Stove managing editor Rita Leifhelm. Harry turns 96 this coming Saturday. Happy Birthday Harry!]
[Tight End Trivia: Fred Arbanas (top row, fourth from left) won his primary for an at-large seat over the CCP-endorsed candidate. The GOP thought it had a good chance in the general because the CCP candidate had lost and they thought voters would question whether Fred’s experience as a Chief’s tight end qualified him for office. Arbanas won by 30,000 votes and served on the legislature for 42 years.]
[Newspaper Trivia: This was back in the day when there were two editions of the paper, the Kansas City Times in the morning and the Kansas City Star in the evening. This meant that breaking morning news, like current vote totals, would be in the evening paper.]
Reaction to the Unofficial Count: Another article on Wednesday afternoon in the Kansas City Star had this headline:
In the article, reporter Laura Scott Divins quoted Mike (the “71-Vote Loser”): “It is tempting to wonder what a little extra effort somewhere would have gotten us…But I’m not bitter. On the positive side, I learned a lot…I don’t know if I will become (politically) active again…It cost me a lot of money and time…It looks like I’ve lost, but there’s an outside chance there may be a miscount somewhere.”
On Thursday morning in the Kansas City Times, an article written by Jim Fitzpatrick ran with this headline:
The article began “Republicans in Jackson County reveled in their party’s apparent victories in six district races…”. A Republican official noted that the Republican candidates benefitted from the landside victories by Richard Nixon in the presidential race and Kit Bond for Missouri governor. The official said that Kartsonis probably would have lost the third district without that benefit.
But Wait…: Mike thought his reversal of fortune on the absentees needed to be reviewed. In checking the results, he found a ward where absentees favored Kartsonis 130-18. Since there were only 48 persons voting absentee in the ward, this could not be right. The actual number was 30-18, and the loss of 100 votes for Kartsonis put Mike back in the lead. But then Mike found two more errors in the tallies made by the news media – the election board had not yet done its canvas, so the parties were relying on the media adding up the votes at the precincts. Those two errors reduced Mike’s margin, and the net result was that he now had a two vote lead.
Another tabulation error of absentees netted Mike five more votes, raising his tentative lead to seven votes.
Below from the Kansas City Star on Monday, November 13, Paul (left) and Mike poring over the vote tallies at the election board.
Kartsonis and his legal team asked for a court order to review the absentee ballots. That was denied, but with a right to ask for a recount after certification by the election board.
Certification: On Wednesday, November 15, the Kansas City Election Board finished its canvas and certified the results, and Mike was the winner. His comment to the newspaper, “It’s a landslide.”
The certified count: White led Kartsonis 14,077-14,072, a margin of five votes.
Recount: With potential issues on the absentee ballots, the parties stipulated to a court-ordered recount.
On November 28, members and staff of the election board gathered at the board headquarters to review the absentee ballots. Both candidates were there with their legal teams. Mike was represented by his law partner Norman Sanders and me. It was a tense five hours as every one of the almost 1,500 ballots was closely studied. The intent of the voter was not always clear and eight ballots were thrown out. Sometimes the count was wrong. There were seven wards, and only three had the right count. Mike’s margin went up by 8 in two wards, but Paul’s margin went up by 12 in the remaining two wards. A net loss to Mike of 4 votes.
Below, my handwritten summary after we completed the recount:
The official count: White over Kartsonis 14,071-14,070, a margin of one vote.
Reaction to the Official Count: There was one big winner recognized by both candidates – The Power of One Vote.
Kartsonis appreciated being involved in a one-vote race, saying “There’s no question that it will help people realize that every vote is important. I had been at a loss when talking to young people to find an example that pointed out the importance of one vote. Little did I realize that the example would be me.”
Mike White had a similar reaction: “I think it is a wonderful thing to win by one vote. Maybe for the first time in their lives people will realize how much their vote really counted. Mr. Kartsonis has been a very worthwhile opponent. He’s been a gentleman throughout the campaign and while awaiting a final decision.”
Both candidates praised the professionalism of the bipartisan election officials who worked tirelessly with one goal – to get the count right.
A victory for democracy fostered by election officials and two honorable candidates.
Life-Changing Event: On a personal level, Mike’s one-vote victory in 1972 changed my life. I had no idea at the time. Also not yet on the radar for Mike and me: Our law school classmate Jim Polsinelli founded a small firm on the Plaza in October of 1972.
In 1974, George Lehr ran for State Auditor and so would not be running for reelection as County Executive. Mike was primed to run. He was well known after the one-vote victory in 1972, and his hard work and vision as a county legislator earned him wide support from politicos in the county. I signed on as his campaign manager, and Ken Hill was recruited as a savvy political mentor for both of us. Below: Lonnie, Mike and Ken celebrating Mike’s 1974 primary win.
After Mike easily won the primary, Ken Hill went out and locked up enough votes for me to be elected Chairman of the Jackson County Democratic Committee. This meant I would be working with the whole ticket, including Senator Tom Eagleton who was running for his second term. Below, a campaign flyer from the County Committee.
Most of the ticket won in the general election, including Mike, Tom and auditor candidate George Lehr. Two years later, on the recommendation of Eagleton staffer Gene Godley, I became part of the advance staff for Walter Mondale’s campaign for Vice President. After Mondale won, I continued as a part-time advance man for VP trips, including diplomatic trips to Asia, Europe and Africa.
When Mike’s term ended at the end of 1978, he chose to not run for reelection. I encouraged him to join me at the Popham firm, but he turned it around – he lured me to join him at Jim Polsinelli’s Plaza law firm where four of our UMKC law school classmates were partners. We got a page 3 story in the Star on the move:
One of our early clients was a property tax firm founded by Ken Hill and Wayne Tenenbaum (cover photo below). Mike and I were in law school with Wayne, and he had served as Mike’s county assessor. Ken Hill introduced me to Mike Russell and Doc Worley, active property developers and founders of the Kansas City Business Journal. Mike Russell introduced me to a client who would take my real estate practice national.
The Polsinelli firm is currently celebrating its 50th year and now has over 1,000 attorneys in 23 offices nationwide.
Those Mondale advance trips ignited a passion for foreign travel. Rita and I married in 1981, and we have since traveled to over 100 countries.
I am giving all of this background to show the importance of one vote. If Mike had not won in 1972, he would not have been in a position to run for County Executive in 1974. So there would have been no 1974 race for me to manage. No building of a friendship with Ken Hill. No Mike and Lonnie joining Polsinelli. No Tenenbaum-Hill company. No being involved in national real estate developments. No county chairmanship to lead to Mondale advance and international destinations.
A lot of good luck. Timing. Serendipity. Support from friends, family, mentors, clients, campaign workers and law firm colleagues who I hope I have appropriately thanked along the way.
The people I cannot thank individually are the 14,071 citizens who voted for Mike White in 1972. So I’ll say it here. THANK YOU! Each and every one of you.
Lonnie’s Jukebox (1) – Democracy Edition: With this talk about democracy, I must play Leonard Cohen’s song.
“Democracy” by Leonard Cohen (1992).
It’s coming from the women and the men
Oh baby, we’ll be making love again
We’ll be going down so deep
The river’s going to weep
And the mountain’s going to shout, “Amen”
It’s coming like the tidal flood
Beneath the lunar sway
Imperial, mysterious
In amorous array
Democracy is coming to the USA
Lonnie’s Jukebox (2) – 1972 Campaign Edition: Here are some songs that played on the radio during the campaign year of 1972.
“Precious and Few” by Climax. Their only big hit peaked at #3. A one-hit wonder for the one-vote win.
“Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)” by Looking Glass. This record was climbing the charts during the primary campaign in the summer of 1972. It reached #1 in August.
“Anticipation” by Carly Simon. Good background song for recounting of the absentee ballots at the election board.
“I Can See Clearly Now” by Johnny Nash. Good background song for the recount being over. This was the #1 song for four weeks in November of 1972.
“Day By Day” by the original Off-Broadway cast of Godspell. The musical opened off-Broadway in 1971, and this song hit the charts in 1972.
The musical moved to Broadway in 1976, and sometime after that, Mike White and I were in New York for the issuance of bonds for Jackson County. This was back in the day when the County Executive manually signed all bonds issued by the county. We finished early one day and decided to take in a Broadway matinee. It was Godspell, my first-ever Broadway show. It was just a start.
The national real estate client who Mike Russell referred to me was based in New York. Rita sometimes went along, and we loved going to Broadway shows. For many years (pre-Covid), we have taken long Memorial Day weekends in NY to binge the new shows. We plan to renew this tradition in 2023. Our favorite is of course Hamilton – a guy who helped establish our democracy. For men, not women. But that thankfully changed, as celebrated by…
…a song that hit #1 in December of 1972. The song still resonates as evidenced by the pivotal role played by women in the 2022 midterm elections.
“I Am Woman” by Helen Reddy. “I am strong/I am invincible/I am woman.”
I am woman, hear me roar
In numbers too big to ignore
And I know too much to go back an’ pretend
‘Cause I’ve heard it all before
And I’ve been down there on the floor
No one’s ever gonna keep me down again
Not even this Supreme Court!