dick thiede was overmatched. >> we ended up with 44 votes. the opponent got 135 votes. >> the mining dispute had attracted money from out of state to a tiny county election. i asked dick how that felt. >> i had a really wonderful homeroom teacher and history teacher at shorewood high school. his name was otis sweiger and one of the things he said is that democracy is fragile. it doesn't take much. >> what happens to the town here and to the people here if this mine doesn't go through? >> we need our community to exist. and if we don't get something here, our community going to continue to decline and you're gonna see, continue to see an area of high poverty. >> mm-hmm. >> nobody wants poverty, nobody. >> five generations are here. my great-grandfather started it, you know, i ain't going to let it go. >> we ain't leaving. >> if this place were ruined because of the water, could you just pick up and go somewhere else and do this? >> hell, no. it's all here. it lives with us. we live with it. it lives in us. it's, it's not, it's not like you can