You have to get up pretty early in the morning on Election Day to win a race, which is why both Paul Shea and David Schoneman, opponents running for Ward 3 alderman, were up before dawn.
And at this point in the race, they are both running on fumes.
But Election Day adrenaline will see them through, as both were outside Amherst Street School by the times the polls opened at 6 a.m., smiling and greeting constituents, bundled up for what will be a long, chilly day of last minute visibility.
Shea said despite his intention to hit the sack by 8 p.m. Monday, he ended up getting little sleep.
Schoneman said he spent the past week fighting off a cold, and powered through candidate forums and campaigning.
"No matter the outcome, I am looking forward to tomorrow, and having nothing to do," Schoneman said Tuesday.
Ward Moderator Skip Barrett said it will all come down to which candidate can mobilize voters.
As of 9:30 a.m. the pace was about 66 voters per hour. He expects about 900 in total by the time the polls close at 8 p.m.
There had only been two new voters registered so far, a fraction of the new registrations during the last presidential election.
"We had about 100 new voters in the same time frame," Barrett said.
"The good side of a slow day is the poll workers will get to take a two-hour break instead of one," which means a lot during what will easily be a 16 or 17 hour day.
Mary Deane was also standing outside the school, campaigning for her dad, David Deane, one of six candidates for Alderman at Large.
"I've been doing this since I was 13. My brothers used to ride their skateboards holding signs. We can't complain, though. Given all he does for us, holding signs one day a year is the least we can do," she said.
Polls are open until 8 p.m.
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