Election ResultsDavid James - Sutton Scene - Nov. 6, 2017
Another rout! Sutton’s 2,305 voters resoundingly embraced the independent candidates yesterday sweeping out the Alliance Sutton administration of Louis Dandenault, which took all council seats in 2013.
Complete story
Overview: The rejection of Louis Dandenault and his team is astounding and profound. The mayor-elect and most of the new councillors are not broadly known by the electorate. Nevertheless, the new mayor, Michel Lafrance drew 56% and the independent councillors took 61% of the vote.
Alliance Sutton team was well known. It had three mayors and a councillor with some 75 years of political experience as well as a former town employee, who had headed up public works. Mr. Dandenault’s 2013 support level of 65% plummeted yesterday to 42%. Similarly his team’s share of the ballots went from 58% to 39%.
Three independents received almost double (1.9x) the votes gained by their opponents.
• Daniel Martin - District 1 - Maple to the Mountain
• Diane Duchesne - District 2 - The South-East
• Lynda Graham - District 5 - Town-East Side
Roseanne Cohen in District 4 - The North-East, had a similar strong showing with 1.8x the votes of her opponent.
Turnout: Fifty-eight per cent of the 3,992 eligible voters cast their ballots. The turnout was down from the past two elections that saw 60% in 2009 and 65% in 2013.
District One - Maple to The Mountain, where weekenders outnumber full-time citizens, had the lowest turnout of 36%. Independent Daniel Martin, founder and former owner of Auberge des Appalaches on Maple, won 63% of the votes to win against first-time candidate for Alliance Sutton, Gaétan Marceau.
Alliance Sutton councillor and one-time town mayor Ken Hill, running in District 6 -Town-West Side, lost by two votes to André Forest, former owner of La Rumeur Affamée, a fine food and cheese shop on rue Principale. While always possible, a recount is not expected as the announcement of the election results was delayed to be sure of the accuracy of the count in District 6.
Nathalie Bédard, owner of Boutique Nath’elle, a women’s clothing store on rue Principale, was the councillor who shared responsibility with Ken Hill for economic development and was responsible for the culture file. She was defeated in District 5 - Town-East Side by Lynda Graham, who has a B&B Vert le Mont on Maple.
In 2013, John Hawley won against Michel Lafrance by winning 63% of the vote. This time the councillor responsible, with Winston Bresee, for treasury and budget preparation garnered only 34% of the vote in District Two - The South-East, losing to Diane Duchesne.
Why the defeat?: Arrogance, lack of transparency and collaboration with the citizens, the ‘Dandenault debt’, fiscal mismanagement and its old anti-democratic ways of getting things done are among the recurrent themes cited to explain the defeat of the Dandenault administration. The rejection of ‘the old ways’ by young first-time voters may have ironically played a role in the defeat of Alliance Sutton, which had said it was trying to attract and retain young people. Given their surprise and shock at the results, it is clear that Alliance Sutton had lost touch with the voters and especially their core supporters of 2013.
Next Steps: Tomorrow over lunch, the town’s director general Pierre Largy will brief mayor-elect Michel Lafrance on pressing issues and the next steps for the transfer of power. On Friday, the new council will be sworn in. Their first council meeting is scheduled for Monday, November 20th and their first regular monthly council meeting is on the first Monday of December, the 4th.
