The highly-anticipated Brantford mayoral election is over. The ballots are in, and, among the eight unsuccessful candidates is Mark Littell, with a grand total of 3417 votes, placing him in third.
Roughly forty-five minutes after a very optimistic interview with Brantford’s local television station, Littell arrived at the Piston Broke in downtown Brantford where his election party was being held. The plethora of Littell supporters and campaign staff waiting at the pub already knew what Littell was just discovering. With 35 of the 55 polling stations reporting in, it was clear that with 11,334 votes, Chris Friel had seized a decisive “landslide” victory over his opponents.
Addressing the crowd, Littell claimed that he had “no regrets,” and that those involved with the campaign should be proud.
“These last four years, I’ve made a really positive change in this community,” Littell said to a small gathering of listeners. “My commitment stays to this community; you’re not going to hear from me four years from now when there’s another election, you’ll hear from me all the time. I’ll stay an advocate for the downtown.”
Littell also took a moment to thank everyone who showed up to support him in the election. When interviewed, Littel said that he was “disappointed” about the results but felt that he got a lot done in the term. When asked about his current plans, he said that he has his personal business to run and is “optimistic for this community.” Littell stands by all of the decisions he has supported, even the controversial demolition of the buildings along south Colborne Street. When asked if he plans to run again in four years, he replied simply, “never say never.”
Other candidates who failed to secure the mayor’s office include John Sless, who came in second place with 5466 votes. Sless has been a member of the city council for 19 years, longer than any other candidate, though this election marked his first bid for the mayor’s office.
Dianne Austin followed closely on Littell’s heels with 3264 votes.
Austin is a relative newcomer to Brantford politics, having lived in the city for only three years and never having served on the city council.
Austin and her team were relying largely on her 15 years of experience in municipal politics to sway voters.
Mike Quattrociocchi had 1875 votes placing him squarely in the middle of the pack in fifth place. Quattrociocchi has previously been a city councillor but with 20 years of experience running his own construction company, Quattrociocchi has been more involved with the economic community of Brantford than the political one.
Rounding out the top six were James Calnan with 1068 votes. Calnan has been one of the more outspoken members of the city council in the past few years, however, his campaign focusing on leadership seems to have floundered compared to most other candidates. Bringing up the rear were candidates Richard Casey, Winston Ferguson and John Turmel all of whom received less than 500 votes. The eccentric Turmel claimed a paltry 61.
