By Kirk Starratt
KingsCountyNews.ca
The unofficial results are in for the special elections in Kings County Districts 8 and 11. In District 8, incumbent Dale Lloyd retained his seat, defeating opponent Rick Ackland by a margin of 566 votes to 392.
In District 11, Jim Winsor defeated former councillor Gary Connolly in a tight race: 500 to 479. Dale Pineo, who withdrew his nomination Feb. 25 for health and personal reasons, received 14 votes.
Celebrating at home with a group of supporters, Winsor said he first heard he won the “squeaker” when councillor Wayne Atwater called him. The race was close: with only results from the first advance poll left to report, Winsor and Connolly were tied at 261 votes each.
“It feels good, it feels humbling,” Winsor said. “The people of New Minas have entrusted me to be a part of council.”
He said the message in his election win is that people can and will respond to a positive campaign. He thanked Connolly for “his important part in our democracy” and wished him all the best for the future.
Connolly, who was at McGill’s with a group of supporters on election night, said the support he received in the village was tremendous even though it didn’t translate into victory at the polls. Connolly said he wishes Winsor the best as District 11 councillor, but he is requesting a recount. He has until March 27 to apply.
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Lloyd holds on
District 8 winner Lloyd said the results came in so quickly, it almost seemed anticlimactic after three months of campaigning. The battle was “hard on the head,” Lloyd said, but added he is excited to be going back to serve on Kings County council and looks forward to working with the current group of councillors.
“I never take anything for granted,” Lloyd said. “Rick (Ackland) worked hard and I take my hat off to him.”
Lloyd said serving on county council isn’t easy and there’s a lot of hard work to do.
Ackland said he wanted the right to run and he did so.
“It’s an awful lot of hard work. I’m actually glad it’s over now,” he said. “I did the best I could.”
The special elections were called after a December Supreme Court ruling overturned results of the October elections in the two districts. Both Ackland and Winsor had been disqualified by the returning officer in the earlier election for failing to resign positions on municipal boards and committees prior to declaring their candidacies. Judge Gregory Warner ruled Ackland and Winsor shouldn’t have been disqualified.
For more, see the March 19 Kings County Advertiser.
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Dale Lloyd has won the municipal council seat in District 8, with 566 votes to Ackland’s 392. Lloyd won the seat in the October 2012, but the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia overturned the election in December, necessitating a byelection.
In District 11, challenger Jim Winsor won the byelection, with 500 votes to Gary Connolly’s 479. Connolly had won the October 2012 vote.
Dale Pineo, who withdrew from the race after his name was on the ballot, received 14 votes.
All results are unofficial until March 19 when reviewed by the returning officer.
For a poll–by-poll breakdown from the Municipality of Kings, click here.
