Hewitt wins feisty campaign in Haldimand
Mayor tops McClung by 2,700 votes
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It was a bruising campaign but incumbent mayor Ken Hewitt was elected Monday in Haldimand for a third term.
Electors in Haldimand easily returned Hewitt with 6,578 votes. This compares with 2,671 votes for challenger Lisa Taylor of Dunnville and 3,840 votes for David McClung of Cayuga.
Hewitt attributes his success to a solid record and sticking to a positive message for Haldimand’s future on the campaign trail.
Hewitt says there isn’t much of a market in the county for politics based on personal attacks. He added that McClung’s efforts during the campaign to paint the mayor and Haldimand council in a negative light backfired.
“People tend to run for one of two reasons,” Hewitt said. “They either want to move the sticks forward on behalf of the county or they have an axe to grind. Mr. McClung seems to have an axe to grind.”
McClung, a retired municipal planner, is an outspoken critic of Haldimand council’s decision to abandon its current town hall on Munsee Street in Cayuga and build a new administration complex across town.
The move involves the construction of a new museum and library in downtown Cayuga. Along the way, McClung’s criticisms have included charges of self-dealing on the part of some council members.
On Friday, McClung said the aggressive tone of his campaign was “deliberate.”
“If I thought everything was hunky-dory, why would I run?” he said. “I’m satisfied with some things council is doing and dissatisfied with other things. Why wouldn’t I be aggressive?
“I’m not a career politician and I’m not trying to set myself up for a career in anything.”
Taylor is a CPR and first-aid instructor for firefighters and other first-responders. This was her first foray into municipal politics.
Taylor says she learned a lot about the municipal process over the past few months. She says she wasn’t ready for how emotional and vicious some people can be in the home stretch of a political campaign. Taylor wasn’t prepared for the animosity that came to dominate social media as the Oct. 22 day of decision drew near.
“This has been an eye-opener for me,” Taylor said. “I wasn’t aware of how vindictive it could be.
“Personally, I feel that if you have to attack everyone on everything they have to say you don’t have much to offer yourself. Myself, I tried to run a clean campaign”
In Jarvis-area Ward 1, Stewart Patterson, of Jarvis, ousted incumbent Leroy Bartlett of Nanticoke and Andrew Bergsma, of Hagersville, with 1,100 votes.
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