A month later, Jeff Sparks is visibly more relaxed. He leans back in a diner booth at The Grill on Linton’s main street, wearing a well-loved black Purdue sweatshirt.
Not all the educators running for office have Sparks’ chances this election, Sutton says. He names a couple local races, then closes his eyes and shakes his head, symbolically shutting them down. “Sometimes it’s just too hard to change the ideological slant of a district.” On Election Day, it turns out Sutton was right about two of the three races he predicted.
Saturday before the election, 22-year-old The Linton headquarters are actually the town multi-purpose room.
Friday before the election, Sparks is at the junior high. He’s about worn out, he says.
Sparks gives up his weekends for the campaign, going to spaghetti dinner and pancake breakfast fundraisers all over the district.
Election Day is cold and rainy. The sky goes from overcast to drizzling to full pouring rain in Greene County as the last voters leave the polls.
