With less than 12 hours until the polls open, this is the time for reminding everyone to call your friends and relatives, check on your polling places (using the handy Voter Info Center), and stressing that in a local election, every single vote counts (seriously — in 2008, the margin between the last two Council candidates was 18 votes).

You've probably already made up your mind about the statewide races, but I do want to say a few words about candidate for General Treasurer Gina Raimondo (Web site, Facebook). I've met a lot of candidates this season — it's one of the side-effects of running — and while I've been very impressed with almost all of the Democratic ticket, Raimondo is really a standout. She's got a strong background in finance and business, a thorough grasp of the issues, and has put forth some powerful new ideas: I was particularly impressed by her collaboration with Attorney General candidate Peter Kilmartin on the idea for a pension-fraud task force, and her proposed Institute for Financial Empowerment to develop financial literacy and help Rhode Islanders cope with our economic climate. Raimondo is one of the reasons I'm genuinely excited about our statewide races, and I hope you'll support her.

As I said in my recent letter in the Newport Daily News, for those concerned with education funding, this is a particularly important year for our state legislature. If we are to have a chance at reconciling the RIDE funding formula and S3050, we need folks at the State House who share our concerns: Sen. Chuck Levesque (Dist. 10) has been a strong ally for education, and we need his voice in the Senate. In the House, Rep. Ray Gallison (Dist. 69) fought the formula on the House Finance Committee, and Amy Rice (Dist. 72) attacked it on the floor, as did my Rep. Jay Edwards (Dist. 70). Candidate George Alzaibak (Dist. 71) has taken a strong position opposing the current formula. I strongly urge you to consider these folks, and their support for education funding, when you're casting your ballot.

Locally, of course, I hope you'll join me in supporting the entire Democratic slate for the Town Council, Mike Buddemeyer, Dennis Canario, Terri Cortvriend, Al Honnen, Len Katzman, Jeff Lewis, and Jim Seveney.

If you're a supporter of the public education — and if you're still reading this far into the post, my guess is that you are — you know how important it will be to have a Council that will work with the schools, rather than against them. I have spent a lot of time talking with all of the Council candidates, and I can assure you that they will give the school committee a fair hearing.

And that school committee needs the right people to meet the challenge of the next few years. Obviously, I believe that the Democratic slate, with Dave Croston, Andrew Kelly, Marge Levesque, and myself, are the right combination of experience, fresh perspective, and deep functional knowledge.

Thanks, everyone, for all the ideas, suggestions, positive thoughts, and contributions that you sent my way over the course of this campaign. I will do my best to pay that forward, however things turn out. I thank you, all, for your time and your consideration, and ask you for your vote tomorrow.