By Jim Reece -

Volunteers filled their respective Amador County party headquarters office this week as Democrats and Republicans geared up for the final stretch into Election Day 2008, Tuesday, November 4. Candidates of the second election of the New Millennium likely need no further introduction at this point, but as McCain and Obama gird up their loins, the same occurs in races around Amador. Said to be “non-partisan,” – pretty much only in name – the races locally nevertheless separate many of the candidates by the two major parties. Both of the major parties, Democrats and Republicans, have headquarters staffed by volunteers in Amador County. The Amador Republican Party is in Martell and the Amador Democratic Party is in Jackson. The Democratic Headquarters sells bumper stickers and buttons for the various races from the top down, that is, down to local races that have stickers and fliers on the front window. Those include Bill Condrashoff, who is running for the Amador Water Agency, and Keith Sweet and Judy Jebian, who are both running for the Jackson City Council. The Republican displays focused on bigger races, McCain and Palin and Congressman Dan Lungren’s reelection bid, along with Jack Sieglock for Assembly, who faces Democrat Alyson Huber in the District 3 race.