CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. - Kim Devine summed things up quit succinctly when asked what the difference was.
“More people voted for Philip,’’ Devine said, referring to Charlottetown mayor elect Philip Brown.
While the race was relatively tight most of the night Monday night — Brown led by Devine by fewer than 300 votes most of the evening — Brown never lost momentum en route to the mayor’s chair.
“You’re either going to win or lose,’’ Devine said. “It’s one or the other.’’
Devine said she can’t pinpoint anything during the campaign that cost her the election.
“More people voted for Philip,’’ she reiterated. “I’m proud of my campaign. I’m proud of what I did. I had a really good team behind me, I talked to a lot of people. I met a lot of really good people and really think in political campaigns, some people win and some people lose.’’
Despite the fact that months of campaigning resulted in defeat, Devine wouldn’t change a thing. Devine said she got a lot out of the campaign personally.
“I met a lot of people. I learned about how passionate Charlottetown residents are about their community and how engaged they are. People feel deeply about their city, and they want to be engaged and they want it to be a caring, progressive city and that’s what I think I learned on this campaign.’’
Devine was aiming to make history in this municipal election — she was attempting to be the first woman in 50 years to win the Charlottetown mayor’s chair.
“I know, I know,’’ Devine said, getting just slightly sentimental about the question. “But, that’s OK because that’s what politics is, and you have to go into these things knowing you can lose. I mean, you go in doing your best and wanting to win, but there’s always something that can happen and it happened and it’s OK. Philip won fair and square.’’
The mood at Devine’s campaign headquarters was extremely upbeat, despite the disappointing result, as Devine shared a copious amount of laughter with all of her campaign team, family and friends.
Devine gave credit to her campaign manager, Barb MacLeod, her children, the woman who ran the campaign office, her drivers and many, many more who helped drive the train.
“I’m very grateful for everybody’s contribution. It really made a big difference. It made this whole campaign worthwhile for me.
“I got into this race because I feel very passionate about Charlottetown and its future development and I know that I will continue to be involved.’’
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