UPDATED: Oxford Votes Clark in Special By-election

Dave Clark is the new councillor in the Town of Oxford. He was elected today in the town’s special by-election.

Clark captured 111 votes, ahead of Arnold MacDonald with 76. Meanwhile, Krystal Rushton was third with 55 ballots, and George Longard trailed with 41.

Clark says, “ I was pleased and surprised. We put some work into it, but it was worth it.”

He was the first candidate to file nomination papers. He then left for a vacation that had already been planned, returned home midway through the campaign to find that Arnold MacDonald, Krystal Rushton and George Longard had signed up.

The new councillor says, “It was good to see that instead of having five candidates running for six seats,  there were four running for one. It’s good to see there’s a little more interest in it.”

Clark said he and his wife Beverly “did everything we could around town. We got a positive response from people we knew and left a card when people were not home.”

He  concluded, “I’d like to thank everybody for coming out and supporting me, and I thank the other candidates for offering.”

The 283 votes cast represents a voter turnout about 30%, a figure rather low for Oxford standards. Clark’s 11 total represents about 39% of the popular vote.

Councillor Clark will be sworn in prior to the next council meeting, then take the seat formerly held by Greg Wood. It was Wood’s resignation, for personal reasons, that led to the by-election today.