With Tuesday's Portsmouth City Council 4th Ward primary election almost here, the next two days offer one last chance to get out and meet the voters.

Incumbent Jerrold Albrecht will face a challenge from Michael Blankenship-Hamilton and Wayne Nichols.

The top two will face each other in the November general election.

Albrecht said he didn't do much campaigning over weekend. Instead, he conducted the majority of his campaign while collecting election petition signatures earlier this year.

“By now they're either going to vote for you or they're not,” Albrecht said. “They either like you or they don't. A bumper sticker or a sign is not going to make a difference.”

What voters don't like is the way some residents speak out at City Council meetings, Albrecht said.

“People said they'd like to see some changes because people are saying things at meetings that they have no business saying,” he said.

Several recent meetings have featured harsh words between city officials and residents and between city officials themselves.

While Albrecht didn't campaign over the weekend, Blankenship-Hamilton did.

“I'm calling people and asking them to get out and vote for me,” he said.

Blankenship-Hamilton said voters are telling him that City Council is taking too much control over its meetings.

He said people also are concerned about the loss of recreation areas in the city. Earlier this year, the city considered selling McKinley Pool and some city parks.

“If there is no place for the youth to play, they will find trouble,” Blankenship-Hamilton said.

Fourth Ward residents want officials to do what they were elected to do, he said.

“They want to feel like they are represented,” Blankenship-Hamilton said. “If people don't respect it, the government loses its legitimacy.”

Nichols also is spending the last few days before the election trying to earn votes.

He went door-to-door on Saturday talking to people.

“They just want a good representative on City Council,” Nichols said. “A lot of them didn't even know there was a primary on Tuesday.”

He said it's hard to say who will win the election.

“I hope I win,” Nichols said. “But you don't know what people will do once they get into the voting booth no matter what they've told you.”

Much of Nichols' campaigning is complete. But he said there are still a few houses left of Fifth Street that he must visit before Tuesday.

JEFF BARRON can be reached at (740) 353-3101, ext. 236.