It would not have made any difference last night —
If Nancy Goldberg had testified she was a closet Republican, only claiming Democrat bona fides because Culver City voters lopsidedly are registered Dems;
If Laura Chardiet and incumbent Scott Zeidman had provided video proof of how they worship for a minimum of one hour every evening before homemade shrines of President Obama;
If Gary Abrams and Robert Zirgulis both had pledged to write a million-dollar personal check to the School District for each of the next 13 years.
Last night’s outcome of the campaign season’s first School Board Candidates Forum at the Culver City Democratic Club was pre-ordained — in steel.
With two slots for endorsements available, Ms. Goldberg was the only candidate the partisan crowd wanted, based on the onesided final count.
No compromising.
No sharing.
If the other four challengers had called in sick or bored, it would have gone unnoticed and not have altered the voting.
Needing 60 percent of the votes cast to earn a Democratic Club endorsement, Ms. Goldberg ran away. She was named on 49 of 64 ballots, and she only needed 38.
The rest of the field:
Mr. Zeidman, 25
Ms. Chardiet, 17
Mr. Zirgulis, 3
Mr. Abrams, 1
No endorsement desired, 8.
If only one contender reaches the 60 percent threshold in the first round, club policy calls for a second ballot. This time the news was worse for candidates not named Goldberg. They lost ground.
With only 45 votes being cast on the second ballot — 19 fewer than in the opening round — 27 votes were required for endorsement, and here was the finish:
Ms. Chardiet, 16
Mr. Zeidman, 16
Mr. Zirgulis, 3
Mr. Abrams, 2.
This was a standing-room-only Goldberg crowd on the biggest club night of the year.
In an all-Democrat field, Ms. Goldberg, retired Culver City High School teacher, is the matriarch.
A widely beloved figure, her candidate skills largely have been untested in head-to-head confrontations in a public setting.
The next scheduled candidates matchup is a month away, not long before the Nov. 8 election.
