N.D. Voters Elect Marine Serving in Iraq

A Marine reservist who ran his campaign from Iraq won a seat on the Grand Forks City Council, but it will be months before he can attend any meetings in person.

Maj. Mike McNamara, 48, said he plans to take part in council meetings via speakerphone until his scheduled return to North Dakota in late August or early September.

McNamara won with 49 percent of the vote in the city's second ward in Tuesday's election despite having to conduct a long-distance campaign.

"I'm not a politician," McNamara said by telephone from a base near Fallujah, in Iraq. "I ran so I could serve. I see it as an extension of my service over here."

McNamara has served a total of 15 months in two tours of duty in Iraq. He received occasional election updates on the Internet, but said he did not have time to follow the returns closely Tuesday night.

"It has been a busy day over here," he said.

Earlier in the night, when told about early returns through e-mail, McNamara compared the City Council race to the 1986 World Series between the Boston Red Sox and New York Mets. His father, John McNamara, managed a Red Sox team that was one out from winning the series.

"And they lost," he wrote.

"I think about that whenever someone tells me I'm going to win," he said later.

McNamara, who hosts a local radio show in Grand Forks known as "Mac Talk," said he tried to use his talk show "for the common good, and I think that resonates with people."

McNamara's supporters included his commanding officer, Col. L.D. Nicholson. In a letter to the Grand Forks Herald, Nicholson called McNamara "one of my brightest and most talented officers."

"If I were a citizen of Grand Forks, there would be only one candidate for me," Nicholson wrote.
Forbes