It was the closest margin of victory possible, but it’s official. Anita Rainville will fill the vacant seat on Creighton town council.
Rainville earned the most votes in the town’s Oct. 17 byelection, topping fellow candidate Max Owen by just one vote, 77 to 76.
Steele Higgins finished with 21 votes, while Richard Masson earned 20 votes. Heather Strom received seven votes.
After the victory was announced on Oct. 18, Rainville was overwhelmed.
“I’m ecstatic,” she said. “I’m still in the ‘Oh my God, I won,’ phase.”
Election returning officer Paula Muench said voter turnout was about 20 per cent of the eligible population. In total, 204 votes were cast during the byelection. By contrast, four current town council members received more votes individually during the last municipal election than the total number of votes cast in the byelection.
As the winner of the election, Rainville will sit and be sworn in at the next town council meeting, set for Oct. 24.
“It’s something I was hoping to get into,” said Rainville.
An interagency coordinator at Creighton Community School and a leading volunteer with the locally based Northern Growing Abilities project, Rainville told The Reminder earlier this month she would prioritize education, transportation and advocating for community organizations if elected to council. Rainville will have to recuse herself from any council votes related to Northern Growing Abilities.
The close margin of victory meant that a possible recount would be considered if candidate Owen wished for one, Muench said.
However, Owen told The Reminder he would not seek a recount.
“I’m not going to. Paula told me that they recounted those things three times. That’s good enough for me. I don’t think it’s worth the trouble or whatever you’d call it to go for another count and end up, more than likely, with the same result,” he said.
Owen ran for the seat formerly occupied by his late wife, Shirley. Shirley earned a seat to Creighton council on three separate occasions. Before she passed away due to illness in July, Shirley rarely missed a meeting and was active in multiple community causes.
Muench said the low voter turnout was likely due to the fact it was a byelection, instead of a full municipal vote.
“That would have brought more voters out,” she said.
