Etc.

How I got into politics

If you're keeping score at home, Angela Tuttle is the new constable-elect in the Third District of Hancock County, Tenn. What's more, she is the first woman to win the job. And what a tight race it was! On the ballot earlier this month, not a single name appeared opposite the office. But Angela's father, Lewis Hancock Jr., has held the same post in another district for years and he encouraged her to submit the necessary papers to become a write-in candidate. "He told me that would be a good thing to do," she said. Still, she couldn't quite bring herself to inform her husband of the plan until about a month before the election. That may have been just as well, because he didn't think she could prevail. The few other people she did tell apparently weren't prepared to believe her. But Hancock County is rural, and election officials said only about one-fifth of the 674 registered voters in the Third District bothered to go to the polls on Aug. 7. So as Angela voted for herself on election day, her prospects figured to be reasonably good, although she wasn't at all confident. "I thought somebody else would write in [too]," she said. No one did, however, and she won, 1-0. Her husband's reaction? "He just grins at me," she told reporters. "But I didn't spend any money, so I guess it's OK." When she's sworn in Dec. 1, Dad can coach her on the fine points of issuing subpoenas, serving warrants, and checking the locks on places of business after hours.