Once again voter turnout for partisan primaries was lousy. It is one thing to ignore your political party’s nomination procedure when there is no contest, but contested races deserve better.

Part of the reason for low primary numbers is the fact that the largest segment of voters is unenrolled/independent. Our two-party system is losing favor as voters become more and more disenchanted with the candidate choices being offered.

The November general election will be different in turnout, but may also be low because of the seemingly untenable choice between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Again we will be faced with two extremes, this time an untrusted career politician and an ego-centric self-marketer.

Meanwhile on the local scene, as we predicted, Maine Democrats took a big first step in regaining the state Senate with Shenna Bellows’ landslide primary win over Gardiner councilor Terry Berry in District 14. Bellows’ showing is evidence that she is the probable successor to Republican Earle McCormick, who is not seeking re-election.

As I hoped, retired Navy Admiral Bryan Cutchen will be the Republican in this November’s race that will include a wild card independent, Joe Pietroski, whose background is in banking and as a lobbyist. Cutchen will need strong Republican Party financial and organizational support to have a chance against Bellows, even though this district leans Republican.

Another local contest that was covered in the previous column is the District 1 Kennebec County commissioner race. I had predicted that gubernatorial-appointee Commissioner Patsy Crockett would overcome any vote spread for her main challenger, Augusta city councilor Pat Paradis, in his native Ward 3. As I speculated, Crockett’s winning margin in the towns surrounding Augusta in the district brought her a solid win against Paradis and Carel Pease, aformer Windsor town manager whose vote total was insignificant. Commissioner Crockett thumped Paradis by a 62 percent to 38 percent margin (54-46 in Augusta) while garnering 55 percent of the total district vote. On election day at 5 p.m. I sent out an email predicting that Crockett would win with 56 percent, despite Paradis’ record-breaking 600 signs. I commented in an earlier column that Crockett would undoubtedly have been the choice of her late close friend Commissioner Bev Daggett to succeed her.

Crockett reports that as she was leaving her home Ward 1 at the Augusta armory with early results, a beautiful rainbow suddenly appeared. With misty eyes, she said, “I believe it was Bev’s sign that she was very happy looking down at us.” You see, not all politics is nasty and bad.

Meanwhile, what have the Republicans wrought? As we thought, now that the primaries are decided, Donald Trump, out in the real world, is sinking fast. A double-digit deficit in some current polls. If this continues, Trump will take many good Republicans down with him.

In Maine, incumbent Democratic Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, in the first district, will win regardless of which Republican opponent survives any recount. And, Emily Cain in the second district could benefit greatly from having Clinton, a fellow woman, at the top of the ticket. Second District Congressman Bruce Poliquin might become another victim if Trump loses in a landslide.

A lot can happen between now and November, but at the moment it appears that we are on our way to having the first woman president (unless she is indicted first).

It is astounding that Trump has turned the “Orlando massacre” into a minus for his campaign even when “radical Islam” is at the root cause.

Like Gov. Paul LePage of Maine, nobody is going to convince Trump that he is ever wrong. He who never listens or heeds any advice is always destined for self-destruction.

Switching to city politics, here is the latest, with nomination papers due by mid-August (just a couple months away), and three council seats at stake.

At-large councilor Dale McCormick is now said to be planning to run for re-election. The at-large seat to be vacated by Cecil Munson because of term limits is still wide open. I wouldn’t be surprised to see former veteran councilor Mark O’Brien attempt a return to local politics. Paradis is also term-limited out in Ward 3. Look for Harold “Junior” Elliot to seek to succeed him. Elliot was the candidate that Paradis supported in an unsuccessful attempt to defeat now-Mayor Dave Rollins when Rollins ran for re-election to the City Council.

There will be at least one new school board member — Katie Vose in Ward 4, is not running again.

Don Roberts, a former city councilor and former vice chairman of the Charter Commission in Augusta, is a trustee of the Greater Augusta Utility District.

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