Lohr outpolls Blunt for ‘Grinch of the Year’

Apparently progressive union members and like-minded activists aren’t as outraged at Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt (R) as many thought – or at least not as outraged as they are at Ron Lohr of Lohr Distributing Company.

Lohr “won” the annual voting for “Grinch of the Year” award, sponsored by Jobs With Justice, by a nearly 2-1 margin over Blunt. The majority faction of the St. Louis Board of Education backed by St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay came in a distant third. The mayor was not nominated.

Lohr was nominated by Teamsters Local 600 “for permanently replacing their striking beer delivery drivers [who] were striking to protect health care for their families and a reasonable workload for a good wage.” Lohr got 2,812 (46.7%) of the 6,024 ballots cast.

1,578 votes (26.2%) were cast for the Republican governor, who was nominated by AFSCME District Council 72. Perhaps it is some consolation to the guv that 73.8% of these very liberal voters thought that someone else was worse.

Six other nominees polled a combined 1,634 votes.

Results may not necessarily be indicative of voter sentiment. The ostensibly progressive sponsor used a very regressive balloting procedure: “one dollar, one vote.” It was a JWJ fundraiser, so I guess the ends were supposed to justify the means.

The JWJ press release alluded to future “public actions to present ‘awards’ to our Grinch winners, and perhaps even some runners-up,” so Lohr, Blunt and the school board majority may want to prepare for some theatrics.