The Lucknow Sentinel, 1985-05-08, Page 1Single copy 35c
ENTIN
Published in Lucknow, Ontario, Wednesday, May 8,, 1985
32 -Pages
- liberal candidate Murray Elston, the big winner. in Thursday's election, gave a brief
- speech to the party faithful at the Teeswater Community, Centre. Elston won a landslide
victory over Mike Snobelen, the PC candidate, and NDP candidate Norma Peterson. With
him is wife Trudy, holding daughter Gillian, and daughters Jeannine and Erin (hidden).
Sitting on dad's shoulders is son Jim. (Photo by Alan Rivett)
28,000 vote in Huron -Bruce
By Steve McAllister
Preliminary voting results from the
Huron -Bruce returning office at Kincard-
ine Friday showed almost 28,000 voters
cast their ballot in Thursday's provincial
election, an increase of just over 1,600 from
the 1981 election.
The returning officer showed there were
38,390 eligible voters in the riding. Of i" e
27,700 (72 per cent) who cast their
Thursday and during last week's ad' ...ice
polls, 17,148 (62 per cent) voted for Lnt cr:
incumbent Murray Elston, Pror E si'
Conservative candidate Mike )ele
attracted 8,521 votes (31 percent) ^r d NU(
candidate Norma Peterson earr .i 2,0,
votes (7 per cent).
A total of 26,083 voted ni the 1981
Lucknow
Central Express
Edition.
This week, the Sentinel is proud to
present an 8 page supplement produced
by the students at Lucknow Central
Public School called the Lucknow
Central Express. The Express is a
collection of stories and photographs
which, after editing and typesetting,
the pages were pasted up by the
students themselves. The students,
teachers and staff at the Sentinel had
fun doing it so we hope you will enjoy
reading it.
provincial election.
Mr. Elston won all but five of 138 polls
and four of the five advance polls. The
W.ingh am lawyer led the advance polls in
W ingham, Port Elgin, Blyth and the
returning office while Mr. Snobelen had
the most votes at the advance poll in
Kincardine.
Mr. Piston came out on top in his place
of voti.,g in Wingham, gaining 153 votes,
Mr. Snobelen, 29, and Mrs. Peterson, 9,
Mrs. Peterson also won her own! area
(the Huron Heights region of Kincardine),
earning 65 votes, to Mr. Elston's 54 and
Mr. Snobelen's 26. Mr. Snobelen loot his.
poll (southern. Huron Township) to Mr.
Elston 99 - 92, Mrs. Peterson getting 6
votes at that poll.
Resounding victory for
Elston in Huron -Bruce
By Alan Rivett
The sound of bagpipes ushered liberal
candidate, Murray Elston, into the Tees -
water Community Centre for a victory
party when, earlier in the evening, the
voters in Huron -Bruce ushered him into his -
second term in political office Thursday.
Elston won a resounding victory in
Huron -Bruce to preserve the 19 -year
liberal tradition in the riding. The 138.
polls in the riding showed Elston with
17 148 votes compared to PC candidate'
Mike Snobelen's 8,521 votes and NDP
candidate Norma Peterson's 2,031 votes.
The election was a marked "turn around
from Elston's last win in 1981 with the
liberal candidate edging out PC Gary
Harron by to mere 224 votes.
In a brief speech to the party faithful who
turned out in Teeswater Thursday evening,
Mr. Elston, who was joined by his wife,
Trudy, and children, commented on the
"positive" campaign run by David .Peter-
son, which captured voters throughout the
province. He thanked all the voters in
Huron -Bruce and his campaign team for
their support.
Elston " also congratulated the other
olbtiiidlifites, mike. Snobelen; who made a
brief appearance at the election party, and
Norma Peterson for running extremely
good campaigns.
"I was pleased to run in the campaign •
with Mike and Norma: They ran a
genuinely clean campaign. I commend
those people. It takes a tremendous
candidate to be in this campaign no matter
which side you're on," said Elston.
Elston said he was really pleased with
the outcome of the election from a local and
province., wide standpoirn "You can't do
better than this," he said of his land slide
• victory in Huron -Bruce. He said if the party
could have picked up.one more per cent of
the popular vote it "might have been
enough to put us over the top."
"They weren't picking us to be this
close. It's all because of David Peterson.
You just can't say enough about David
Peterson," he said. •
As for a position within the liberal
opposition government, Elton said it will
be totally up to the d s z4etion of leader
David Peterson. • \
"My first concern is for the riding and
the people. Whatever he decides he wants
me to do is what I will do. You can't second
guess a guy who has been right all along,"
he said.
NDP vote increases in election
By Steve McAllister
No sooner had Thursday's provincial
election come to a close than NDP
candidate Norma Peterson was ready to
move on to other things, specifically
Friday's meeting of Kincardine town
council, where she is completing her first
term as a councillor.
Mrs. Peterson, running for' the New
Democratic Petty in the Huron -Bruce
riding, picked up 2,031 votes. Thursday.
The NDP candidate in the 1981 election,
Tony McQuail polled 1,979 votes, leaving
Mrs. Peterson room for optimism over her
showing.
"Considering what was happening, I
thinkI did very well to increase," said
Mrs. Peterson Friday, citing the Liberal
surge in this election. "It could have gone
a lot worse."
Anti -Miller Feeling
Mrs. Peterson credited the liberal up-
swing with an increasing dislike of Premier
Frank Miller during the campaign. She
said the anti -Miller feeling made its way
through the province.
"I'm not surprised that Murray (Elston)
won but I didn't expect (that margin)," she
said. "It reflected what happened across
the province.
Surprised by the voter turnout, saying
there appeared to be a lack of interest in
the election, Mrs. Peterson also attributed
the large turnout to an anti -Miller senti-
ment and the power of polls.
"With Miller's increasing goofs, people
decided enough was enough and voted to
get rid of him. The liberals were predicted
to win and sometimes people vote on that
basis. "
Mrs. Peterson said during her campaign
the liberals had taken many of the NDP's
policies and she said Friday"That's fine as
long as they continue to move in that direc-
tion". The election also helped people
realize that NDP leader Bob Rae is a
"bondafide" leader, she added.
Asked about the effect of a minority
Tum to page 4
Tories dumbfounded by results
By Steve McAllister
It was an indication of things to come for
Mike Snobelen and the Progressive Con-
servative party in Ontario Thurs ay night
as a couple of Tory signs fell froth' the wall
as Mr. Snobelen's supporters gathered in
the hall at the Ripley -Huron complex.
Liberal incumbent Murray" Elston's
8,600 vote victory over Mr. Snobelen left
more than a few PC supporters in the
Huron -Bruce riding dumbfounded.
Mr. Elston, replacing Murray Gaunt,
defeated Tory candidate Gary Harron by
224 votes in 1981 and many observers were
predicting another close result Thursday
night. Mr. Elston won 133 of 138 polls,
however, including a seven vote victory
over the PC candidate the PC candidate at
Mr. Snobelen's home poll.'
"It was either Hogtown or the corn plant
and it looks like the corn plant," said Mr.
Snobelen to his supporters following the
election results. "There's always a winner
and always a loser, and we did out best."
Time For A Change
Talking to the press later, Mr. Snobelen
said when congratulation Mr. Elston in
Teeswater, he "appeared to be overwhel-
med by his victory". Several Snobelen
supporters agreed that Mr. Elston was
helped by an anti-government feeling and
a feeling that it was time for a change after
42 years of Tory government.
"They were probably looking for a
1 change, like the federal election, but rm
quite surprised with this riding," said
reeve Weir Sheane.
"It was a straight anti-government vote
but I thought it wduld be closer (in Huron-
Brucc," echoed Kincardine businessman
Don Miller. Mr. Miller thought both Mr.
Snobelen and Bruce -Grey Tory candidate
Arlene Wright would have secured more
votes. He credited Mr. Elston with running.
!U good campaign, adding that a minority
government may help the local riding.
"Murray's a good guy and he has some
tools to work with now."
Loran Peter, who nominated Mr. Snob-
elen for the PC ticket in April, said
"Mike's got nothing to be ashamed of. It's
not a `support Liberal' vote, just for a
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