REPUBLICAN PRIMARY: Losing candidates offer no endorsements

Published 5:30 am Thursday, October 1, 2015

The day after a five-man Republican special primary for state House District 5 yielded a two-man runoff, the three remaining candidates thanked supporters and those who cast votes in their favor.

Those candidates — Mike Criscillis, Ronnie Coffman and Jerry Hill — did not offer endorsements for Chris Seibert or Danny Crawford, the candidates at the top of the list. Seibert, who received 38 percent of the votes, and Crawford, who received 33 percent, will face off in a Dec. 8 Republican special primary runoff. The winner will face Democratic challenger Henry White in a Feb. 16 special election.

An emotional Mike Criscillis, who garnered 13 percent of the vote, told The News Courier on Tuesday night that placing third in the contest was “like losing a game.” Despite finishing third, Criscillis was encouraged by the results, especially considering he was a newcomer to Limestone County politics.

“My campaign team deserves the credit,” he said. “I’m more proud of them because they fought all the way, knocking on doors and getting out in the community. I think the most important thing was that we all stayed together as a team.”

Given his top-three showing, he was asked if he would consider running for office again. He said that would be up to his supporters, and that he would not run just to hold office.

When asked Wednesday if he would support Seibert or Crawford, Criscillis praised both candidates, but shied away from favoring one over the other.

“The people know these candidates better than I do,” he said. “I think both candidates have good qualities and would do a good job down there.

Coffman, who finished fourth with 10 percent of the vote, thought his anti-tax stance would prevail over the other candidates. He also believed the “negativity” related to the Seibert and Crawford campaigns would “backfire.”

He said he hasn’t given any thought to endorsing one of the candidates because he’s known Seibert for many years and attends church with Crawford.

“I don’t want to upset either side,” he said.

Coffman said he may have had a better showing if he had more time to get the word out about his platforms. He said holding a day job made it nearly impossible to meet as many people as he would have liked, whereas Crawford and Criscillis are both retired.

When asked if he planned to seek another office, Coffman said he has no plans to. He plans to continue to serve on the Republican State Executive Committee, however.

“If it was meant to be, I would have gotten it,” he said of the results. “If God wanted me to have it, He would have put me in that position.”

Hill, who finished with 5 percent of the vote, said the experience was worth it to him to see World War II and Korean War veterans turn out at polling places to vote for him.

“It did my heart well to know they had to have help to get there and into the polling places,” he said.

Hill, like Criscillis and Coffman, did not offer an endorsement for Seibert or Crawford. He pointed out that both candidates received substantial campaign contributions from political action committees.

“Once they get into office, they’ll still serve those PACs,” Hill said.

Though he finished last, Hill said he was most disappointed in the light overall turnout, which was a little more than 12 percent.

“It just reinforces the special interests’ hold on our democratic system,” he said. “Unless people start to participate more in our democratic system, we’ll see (light turnouts) more and more.”