In the last few days - I have seen a fair bit of commentary online about the currently underway election race to become the 2018-2022 Mayor of Williams Lake between incumbent Walt Cobb and former Williams Lake City Councillor (1993-2014) Surinderpal Rathor with either side proclaiming that their preferred candidate will be successful on Saturday, October 20th
If we take a dispassionate look at the numbers in the 2014 City of Williams Mayoral Election, we can take a educated look ahead to how the October 20th election may play out. Please bear in mind that incumbents, generally speaking, are difficult to vote out, especially if the electorate is generally happy with their performance during their current electoral mandate
In the 2014 City of Williams Lake Mayoral Election:
Walt Cobb received 1,344 of 3,534 total valid votes cast or 38% of all valid votes cast
Surinderpal Rathor received 1,219 of 3,534 total valid votes cast or 34.5% of all votes cast
Kerry Cook received 880 of 3,534 total valid votes cast or 24.9% of all votes cast
The late John Bjornstrom received 91 of 3,534 total valid votes cast or 2.57% of all valid votes cast
CivicInfo's 2018 BC Local Elections website (click here) reports that there are 7,839 electors (voters) in the City of Williams Lake, this is roughly down 54 voters from the 2014 Election and 45.2% of voters cast a ballot in the last (2014) City of Williams Lake Local General Election
Knowing this and considering the above noted 2014 Election Results, we could project the following:
For Walt Cobb to be re-elected:
He will need to retain effectively his vote count from 2014 and he should be successful at retaining his Mayor's seat for 4 more years (2018-2022)
For Surinderpal Rathor to be elected:
He will need to retain his vote count from 2014 and gain an additional 125 votes, at minimum, to defeat Walt Cobb on Saturday, October 20th
The real question is where will those 880 Kerry Cook supporters in 2014 park their ballot -- Vote for Walt Cobb (not likely), Vote for Surinderpal Rathor (some for sure will) or will they just stay home...
The answer to this question will be clear on Saturday, October 20th. As these two gentlemen and their supporters have said -- whomever you support for Mayor of Williams Lake on Saturday, October 20th -- the critical thing is to simply get out and vote!!
If you are interested in reaching out to these two gentlemen and learning about why they would like to be Mayor of Williams Lake:
Walt Cobb - click here
Surinderpal Rathor - click here
For voting requirements or questions regarding the 2018 City of Williams Lake Local General Election - click here
~SF
1 comment:
I do not agree with your comment “not likely” Kerry Cooks 2014 voters would vote for present Mayor. Why would you say that? I believe all 2018 eligible voters will take into consideration the fine job the present Mayor has done in leading our council members during the past four years. Therefore,the possibility of Kerry’s followers voting for Cobb being “unlikely” is false! Under our present Mayor and council taxes have been pretty well non existence,lots of construction on the go,etc.Present Mayor and Council have attended to city business in a very efficient manner. Not that some things could not be improved upon,as is always the case,The question is,would a change at the top be an improvement on the stable leadership we have now! Good luck everyone! Get out and vote!
Post a Comment