St. Thomas Mayor Joe Preston cruised to re-election Monday, defeating the same two-term mayoral rival he defeated last time in a race that was anything but the close match some voters had expected.
St. Thomas Mayor Joe Preston cruised to re-election Monday, defeating the same two-term mayoral rival he defeated last time in a race that was anything but the close match some voters had expected.
The former Conservative MP was returned to office with a better than two-to-one margin over Heather Jackson, who was trying to make a comeback in the top job on city council.
Preston took 5,526 votes to 2,614 for Jackson in the three-way race rounded out by Gregg McCart, who finished with 906 votes.
“I can’t be better,” Preston said while celebrating his victory at the St. Thomas Roadhouse Bar and Grill with family and other elected council members.
“I have not been well this last week, so to start to feel better and get these results, what an incredible thing that’s happened,” he said, referencing his health.
All the makings of a close grudge match between Preston and Jackson were in place for the mayoral race, four years after Preston knocked off Jackson by 542 votes. Both candidates had identified housing affordability and homelessness as key issues facing the city of 43,000.
“This is not an easy campaign,” said Preston, who served 11 years as MP in Elgin-Middlesex-London before entering municipal politics.
“When you’re running ads for the mayor to be the mayor, there’s a full job you have to do all day, every day. We went out and did that and showed the people we still are serving St. Thomas.”
Only two new faces will join city council after Monday’s election, with six of the eight councilors running in a 16-candidate field holding their seats.
Tara McCaulley won 3,101 votes, beating her nearest rival by five votes, and Rose Gibson won 3,266 to join council as newcomers.
“This is my fifth time running,” said an emotional Gibson.
“I’m truly thrilled and grateful for the voters of St. Thomas — that they see someone like myself, who is very passionate for the community and wants the best for the community,” she said.
St. Thomas moved entirely to electronic voting, by internet or phone, in this election. Of the 31,103 eligible voters, just 9,527 — 30.6 per cent — voted, the city clerk said. That’s a substantial drop from the nearly 36 per cent turnout in the last election.
“That’s the second-lowest turnout in 60 years of tracking that I did, courtesy of the clerk’s office,” said council veteran Steve Peters, a former mayor who was returned as a city councilor.
In 1971, vote turnout was 29.3 per cent, “and it was a sunny, cold day,” he said. “We had a sunny, warm day (Monday), and that’s the turnout.”
Finding new ways to boost civic engagement will be a priority for the next council, Peters added.
“It’s a three-and-a-half-year priority. It’s not one that’s going to be solved tomorrow, but it’s how do we get ourselves in our community election ready for the 2026 election campaign?”
Preston said he looks forward to collaborating with the new council on big issues
“We’ve got work we have to finish, whether it’s the smart growth in St. Thomas, the growth of industry, the growth of population, housing and what we’re doing on our social side from a homelessness point of view,” he said.
The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canadahas
MAYORAL CANDIDATES
Joe Preston*: 5.526
Heather Jackson: 2,912
Gregg McCart: 906
COUNCILLORS (eight elected)
Lori Baldwin-Sands*
Gary Clarke*
Rose Gibson
Jim Herbert*
Jeff Kohler*
Tara McCaulley
Steve Peters*
Steve Wookey*
*Designates incumbent
FULL RESULTS: Go to stthomas.ca