Thompson takes Nahendeh
Thirty per cent vote goes to longtime recreation advocate
John McFadden
Northern News Services
Thursday, November 26, 2015
LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON
Shane Thompson spent his first few moments as MLA-elect helping someone out of the ditch.
Deneze Nakehk'o, left, arrived at Shane Thompson's house shortly after election results were announced to offer his congratulations and support. - April Hudson/NNSL photo
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It was almost 11 p.m. on a cold, dark election night in the Nahendeh on Nov. 23 and Thompson had just been declared the winner for the electoral district. Congratulatory calls were pouring in and a thick blanket of snow was falling outside.
On the slippery Fort Simpson roads outside his house, where he had waited all night for the final news, a CBC reporter's truck slid into the ditch.
Thompson won against his six rivals with nearly 30 per cent of the vote. He received 295 votes out of 994. The second-closest was Rosemary Gill with 200 votes.
Thompson was up against Gill, Dennis Nelner, Arnold Hope, Deneze Nakehk'o, Randy Sibbeston and incumbent Kevin Menicoche.
The race saw Thompson in the lead from the moment the first poll reported to Elections NWT. However, he said when he was first tracking votes, "things didn't look too good."
"We were behind in Trout Lake but once the first poll came in we knew we were having success," Thompson said.
"We won, but now we need everybody to work together for the next four years for this region. We need Deneze's team, Rosemary's team and Randy's team. We need everyone because at the end of the day, if we're not working together, we're fighting," he said.
Nakehk'o arrived at Thompson's celebration shortly after results were announced, congratulating him on his win and offering his support going forward.
"Our community is at its best when we're all working together," Nakehk'o said.
Nakehk'o had been vocal throughout his campaign that voters vote for the candidate they think would best represent them.
Thompson said his campaign team fell 85 votes short of what they had expected. Even though he had hoped for more, he said his staff did a great job.
"We utilized the advance poll and worked hard to get people out," he said.
"It was a tough competition. Everyone did well. (Everyone) was a strong candidate."
Menicoche and Gill took to social media shortly after results were announced to congratulate Thompson as well as the other candidates.
The Nahendeh electoral district had a 59.84 per cent voter turnout, one of the highest in the NWT.
