BAY MINETTE, Ala. — Political observers predicted a low turnout for Tuesday’s primary election, citing inclement weather, voting on the heels of a holiday and negative campaigning on the state level.

But some of the 80,000 registered voters in the county who chose not to cast ballots may have been preoccupied by a pinprick in the Gulf of Mexico which is spewing millions of gallons of oil, and creating a face-changing reality for the economy and ecology of Baldwin County and neighboring states.

Baldwin County Probate Judge Tim Russell, appointed to the post last month by Gov. Bob Riley after Adrian Johns retired, spent election day combing polling sites and talking to poll workers and voters.

He said he found the oil crisis has “broken the spirit” of county residents and their interest in the voting process.

“Baldwin Countians are as resilient as anyone,” Russell said. “But the number one issue at every poll was not voting, but ‘what do you think about the oil crisis.’

“People said they were so preoccupied. Their spirit was broken and they had no interest in voting.”

Russell, 62, a three-term mayor of Foley, compared the oil crisis to notable events in his life — the Vietnam War, hurricanes, the Cold War and rioting in the 1960s.

“I have lived in Baldwin County all my life, but I have never worried about anything like I have this.”

DEM, GOP election plans

John Stetzinger, chairperson of the Baldwin County Republican Party, sat in the Baldwin County Administration Building in Bay Minette Tuesday night, glued to an overhead screen as precinct results were posted.

He noted the low turnout, and described plans to open Republican offices on the Eastern Shore and in South Baldwin to ignite voter interest for November’s general election.

The offices will be staffed by the Eastern Shore Republican Women, the South Baldwin Republican Women and the Baldwin County Republican Coffee Club.

“We hope to recruit more people with these offices and get Republicans excited about the elections,” he said.

Stetzinger’s Democratic counterpart, Faye Earnest, said she noted voter apathy, especially among voters under age 50, an observation she said was confirmed by visiting poll sites during the day.

“Young people are not voting,” she said. “Poll inspectors said young people came out for the sales tax referendum, but that was issue-related.”

Robert Ramsey, who will assume Earnest’s post later this month, said Democrats are planning more public functions, more visibility, more meetings on the Eastern Shore and North Baldwin and development of a Web Site.

“It will be difficult to get people involved,” he said. “But I think all people want change for the better and we all need the basics — shelter, health care, insurance.

“How we get these divides the two parties, and that will take time to change.”