Heidi Harmon and Jan Marx showed us how classy, clean campaigns are run

We toss a congratulatory bouquet of 47 red roses to Heidi Harmon — one for each of the votes that put her over the top in the San Luis Obispo mayoral election. Incumbent Jan Marx was leading on election night, but after all mail-in and provisional ballots were tallied, Harmon was declared the winner last week.

We’ve seen tighter races — in 2014, Shelly Higginbotham was elected mayor of Pismo Beach by just two votes — but a 47-vote spread is remarkably close and a good reminder that every vote really does count (as long as there’s no Electoral College involved).

This was a big win for Harmon and her supporters; in every other city in the county, incumbents easily won re-election.

That said, both sides should be proud. In a hugely ugly election year, the SLO mayor’s race provided a respite; the candidates ran clean, classy, mostly positive campaigns that focused on serious issues such as housing, water and rental inspections.

They were equally gracious in victory and defeat. Harmon released a statement thanking Marx for her decades of service to the community, and Marx congratulated Harmon on her win.

“I have phoned Heidi Harmon and left a message on her phone congratulating her,” Marx told Tribune reporter Nick Wilson. “I said before the results were known that whoever wins, we should reach out to each other to help to unify the city. I look forward to the future of the city.”

In an era when some candidates think it’s OK to acknowledge defeat via Twitter, Marx reminds us that even in politics, manners count.

Are you listening, Justin Fareed?

This story was originally published November 28, 2016 at 7:29 PM with the headline "Heidi Harmon and Jan Marx showed us how classy, clean campaigns are run."