Here’s something you don’t hear every day.
In the District 14 House GOP primary this year, Republican and retired Citibank executive Dave Zimbeck challenged incumbent House members Larry Zikmund and Tom Holmes for one of the two house seats in the District.
He came in third in the contest, 668 votes to Tom Holmes 858 and Larry Zikmund’s 1,046. Certainly nothing to be ashamed of, especially in the face of 2 incumbents. And that might be the end of the story, except for what’s happening at the moment.
The word is that in recent days donors to the campaign are opening letters from Zimbeck. He expresses a little melancholy about his performance in the race, wishing he could have done better, and noting to supporters that they should not have to bear the cost of his loss.
And as a consequence, he’s giving it all back. The money he’s received in donations.
Really.
I spoke with one person today who had given him a personal donation, as well as being involved with another political organization that gave him a check They were both refunded in full, with similar letters. It’s not every day you hear about something like that, where a politician doesn’t manage to win the election, but repays the people who invested in him.
Dave Zimbeck might have lost the election. But as you sit and think, you can’t help but wonder if he’s managed to find a way to win the war.
What war? He lost. I’m sure most people don’t want their donations back.
Just cause you lose an election doesn’t mean that you didn’t do some good running and talk about issues that matter.
Classy move…..
He is a great .He listens to both sides not just one like they do in Pierre.But we still have a couple of order takers there.
In no way is anything I say critical of Dave. He did what is right for him.
However, if we shower him with praise for giving the donations back, there maybe an implication those who don’t do so are of less character or deserving of some criticism. I disagree.
Win or lose, running for office is good for its own sake because it makes our democracy healthy. And, when one gives a donation, the money is spent serving that purpose.
He may be a great guy and possibly doing the right thing by returning donations, but he never made an appearance at our home so how are we to really know? Holmes and Zikmund both showed up at the door and that’s a big reason they received our votes.