Lots of excitement last night, not to mention, judging from the number of incumbents falling to defeat, lots of people favouring change. Anyway, for all those in New Brunswick suffering from post election blues today, I thought I would offer up a few quick observations/points on what I noticed as somewhat relevant:
- I know the Times & Transcript officially endorsed his candidacy (and so did I), but I found their lead headline LeBlanc by a landslide a bit much since voter turnout, IMO, was the real issue in Moncton on Monday night whereby almost 70 per cent of Monctonians did not turnout to the polls. Could this be a reflection of discontent/apathy amongst the electorate or did the candidates not engage the voters? By golly, it has to be one of the two!
- Speaking of newspaper endorsements, I see spinks has stumbled upon a trend, or should I say an election jinx, with regards to the Telegraph Journal. Not only are they the kiss of death, he believes the TJ may also be "a little out of touch with the people and may be getting a bit of a backlash."
- I see Gypsy blog noticed a few trends with regards to voter turnout. A few more tidbits: (highest turnout) Le Goulet with 81.69 per cent; (lowest turnout) Woodstock with 20.32 per cent. I notice another striking difference in turnout, in that, it was much higher in rural New Brunswick then it was in the cities. Cities: 53.6 per cent; Towns and villages: 58.2 per cent. That rural number would have been higher but acclamations in some towns brought the figure down a bit (since there was no reason to turn out).
- If the Saint John and Fredericton mayor's races taught us anything, it is that high property taxes (and overall tax burdens) were definitely an issue; although, it seems they were being touted by uncharismatic candidates that couldn't connect to that discontent. So essentially, the issue fell on deaf ears. Speaking of the race in the capital, Brad Woodside should definitely be congratulated for going down in the freddy beach municipal record books as longest serving mayor. The guy's tough to beat.
- Tanker is back in the saddle once gain, and according to Adam Huras' title, it's where he wants to be...not sure if his pal Charles Leblanc would agree! Although, Chucky won't have to waste much digital photo space this time following him around the streets of freddy. ;)
- I see the town of Sussex voted a resounding "Yes" in their plebiscite to set a clear path for merging (amalgamation) with Sussex Corner. The TJ describes Sussex Corner as "hesitant" over the matter. I can see why considering only 27 per cent of Sussex voted on the manner in the plebiscite. What does the other 73 per cent think? Are they for merger?
Lots of excitement last night, not to mention, judging from the number of incumbents falling to defeat, lots of people favouring change. Anyway, for all those in New Brunswick suffering from post election blues today, I thought I would offer up a few quick observations/points on what I noticed as somewhat relevant:
11 Comments:
Speaking of voter turnout, and I don't have the official numbers yet for Bathurst, but the mayor received about 3900 votes versus about 680 for the other candidate for total votes of about 4580. Not bad for a small town of 12,000 since the population number includes those too young to vote.
No doubt, canuckguy. Voter turnout there, in Bathurst, was 46.8 per cent. Much better then parts of Greater Moncton (Riverview 36.29%, Moncton 35.37%) and Fredericton 33.84% .
Wow!! Many going down in flames. I wonder what these results may mean for Nova Scotia this October?
You're ahead of me. BTW, I believe my number for votes for the mayor of 3900 was a mistake, it is closer to 3200 I believe, That ties in better with the 46% turnout figure.
Apathy in Moncton is alive and well. I guess alot of folks there have no right to complain since they sat on their ass!!!!
bill: it's like the auto insurance election of 2003, I think Nova Scotia and John Hamm learned a lot from what happened to Bernard Lord a few months before their election.
I think a lot are watching these surprising results at the local level as well.
canuckguy: I crunched the numbers all day today for a pal in Ontario who wants an official summary.
anonymous: very poor participation, although I still think they have the right to complain. I just never bought into that saying.
Saint John Mayor Court was elected yesterday after getting less than 37% of the vote? Not exactly a majority mandate.
Yes, but at least voter turnout in Saint John wasn't as bad as in Moncton and Fredericton, around 51 per cent. nothing to brag about though.
Saint John Mayor Court was elected yesterday after getting less than 37% of the vote? Not exactly a majority mandate.
True enough but there were four solid candidates who split the vote and half the voters couldn't be bothered to go cast a ballot. Given that, 37% is actually a pretty respectable showing. Those who didn't support Court should have worked hardere to get people to actually go out and vote instead of crying sour grapes today.
An excellent point, spinks. Your point reminds me of the 2003 mayoralty race in Saskatoon...a classic. Jim Pankiw's antics are off the charts. Don't ask me if I know him. hee hee.
http://www.city.saskatoon.sk.ca/org/clerks_office/elections/election_results_2003/city_wide.asp
I left NB in the early 90's and Brad Woodside was mayor of Fredericton and was shocked to see he still was. Is he good or does nobody want the job.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home