By KAREN BRANCH-BIOSO
The Tampa Tribune

> 6:30 a.m., South Tampa

Larry “Gotta Get to Work” Saylor, 38, is first in line at Precinct 135. On other-than-election days, that’s simply known as Good Shepherd Lutheran Church.

The sun’s not quite up yet. But Saylor, dentist and – apparently – speed-reader as well, is plowing through what will be 30 pages in the next half hour of “Guns, Germs & Steel” by author Jared Diamond to bide the time before the 7 a.m. opening of the polls.

By that time, there will be 22 people in line behind him.

John and Anne Porter – Nos. 2 and 3 in line behind him – also have to get to work. He runs Anne’s Attic auctioneers. Anne, 63, is a schoolteacher at Wilson Middle School.

John, 64, says he’s always near the front of the line on Election Day. And the turnout doesn’t look good to him as dark clouds gather in the sky above the church. The campaign has been ugly, he says:

“I’d love to see one day when all these negative ads changed,” he says. “Everybody’s disgusted with these ads. They’re only talking bad about the other guy instead of saying what they’d do themselves.”

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