On a rainy and uninspired Election Day in Havre de Grace, which saw only 814 residents bother to cast votes, Randy Craig was reelected and will return to the city council along with former Harford County Councilman Mitch Shank and newcomer Brenda Guldenzopf.
Mayor Wayne Dougherty, who was elected two-years ago in one of the closest and most highly-contested races in Havre de Grace history, was unopposed in his reelection bid.
City councilwoman Barbara Ferguson was the odd-man-out yesterday in a race which had 4 candidates running for 3 open seats. City councilman Joe Kochenderfer did not seek reelection.
The unofficial Havre de Grace election results were:
Total votes 814
For Mayor:
Wayne Dougherty – 659 (unopposed)
For City Council:
Randy Craig – 620
Brenda Guldenzopf – 555
Mitch Shank – 520
Barbara Ferguson – 310
The weather and absence of much opposition in the races can be blamed for the overall lack of enthusiasm in the election.
In 2007, nearly 1,900 people cast a vote in the election, which pitted four longtime city councilmembers against one another for mayor. Dougherty was declared the victor by edging Gary Wasielewski by 49 votes.
Last May, with 7 people running for 3 city council seats and beautiful spring weather in downtown Havre de Grace, more than 1,000 people voted during a non-mayoral election – which usually draws much lower crowds.
This May also turned out to be a non-mayoral election year, with Dougherty all but guaranteed to be reelected by default. The cold, steady week-long drizzle didn’t seem to help matter either. Fewer than 200 people had cast votes by 2 p.m. and that number increased only marginally to fewer than 500 by 4:15 p.m.
Former mayor Phil Barker poses with current and reelected mayor Wayne Dougherty and city council candidates Brenda Guldenzopf and Mitch Shank just a few hours before they were elected to the Havre de Grace City Council.
Photos by Richard Clements
I wonder who the next council president will be?
Congrats Shank !
GD!
I kind of had a feeling that the results would come out this way. There wasn’t a whole lot of hype about the election. It was so low key that the dagger hardly mentioned it at all. Not too suprised that Ferguson lost. But it makes me ponder the fact that she dominated the election 2 years ago when she came in 2nd in a field of 8 candidates….and now she couldn’t squeak by in 3rd place in a 4 person race. I hope the election next year will be more challenging.