Poll:
Who is your pick for Mayor of Louisville?
Louisville, Ky. (WHAS11) - Eight days ahead of the crowded primaries in the Louisville mayor's race, voters not only appear to be undecided, but many do not even know who is running for city hall.
On the streets of Louisville, Monday, it was a reality check for those who cover these campaigns day in and day out, and for the candidates themselves.
Who are you going to vote for in the Louisville mayor's race?
"Abramson," replied Dennis, referring to outgoing Mayor Jerry Abramson.
"Isn't he still running? Isn't Abramson still in there?"
And he was not alone in identifying Abramson as a contender.
"I really don't want Jerry Abramson to be the mayor," said Matthew Carter, "but besides that I really don't know who's the candidates."
When told that Abramson is not running this year, Carter said Metro Council member David Tandy's campaign signs had caught his eye.
"The sign did do it for me because I see them everywhere. So the sign actually did it for me," Carter continued.
"He is everywhere," echoed Loren Kearns, "so that means he has money. If he has money to put up signs that means he has money to help the city."
In the ten months since Jerry Abramson announced he was not running for reelection, 14 people have filed to run for mayor.
"There's so many candidates that it's hard to sort it all out," said Lauren Ogden, "You get bombarded with the mailings. So I just need to sit down and start reading what people are sending me."
Jeff Wilson says he has never voted and does not know the names of any of the candidates in 2010. "I ain't going to lie. No.
Who's running though?" Wilson said.
"We are eight days out and I've started asking people, what are you waiting for?" sighed Democratic candidate Shannon White, who says her full time campaign has been fighting for attention and respect. White dismisses the most recent WHAS11/Courier-Journal Bluegrass poll that showed her with 4% support, compared with Greg Fischer above 30% and Jim King and David Tandy the only others with double digit support.
"Part of it is getting your name out there which is the first challenge. People are like 'Shannon who? What?' The second part is getting people to realize there is a mayors race," White said.
Democrat Tyler Allen started his television advertising Monday.
"The good news is, even after all of that, even after hundreds of thousands of dollars being spent on this race, there are a huge number of undecided voters, a week before the race," Allen said, "because even the people who spend the money have not been able to gain the confidence in the voters.
Voter Elizabeth Jenkins agreed.
"Because I haven't had time to sit down and look at all of them," Jenkins explained, saying she knows the names of the candidates, "I'm seeing all the signs but really I don't know that much about all of them."
"I don't see any debates on TV," said John Ewing, "and it's just like 'if you know the guy you're going to vote for him.'" Ewing says by the time primary election day arrives, he will be better informed.
"I'll get on the internet and see who's telling the truth and who isn't," Ewing said.
Meanwhile, even when voters are reminded of the candidates names, it does not mean they can identify the candidates' positions.
"Tandy - he's the one for legalization of marijuana?" Dennis pondered, "I think. That's who we're going for," he continued as his brother agreed.
A quick call to Tandy clarified his position, "No. I do not support legalizing marijuana. They've been misinformed."
Or in many cases uniformed.
"I couldn't tell you, man." said Michael Moore when asked to name one candidate in the race, yet Moore says he will vote next Tuesday.
"Yeah, I will vote once I find out what's really going on with it," Moore said.
