Barry Sharpe was elected Welland’s new mayor tonight after a campaign that had a number of excellent contenders for the position. Sharpe’s campaign did make excellent use of social media. His campaign included a well constructed website, Facebook page, frequent Twitter updates, and a large number of YouTube videos. His videos were well produced and included discussions from Sharpe on the main issues facing Welland as well as several endorsements from members of the community. His use of social media helped build a campaign that allowed voters to easily understand his priorities and construct a personal, open image.
More than one mayoral candidate made use of social media and online tools in this election. David Alexander also had several YouTube videos on his website to help personalize his campaign as well as links to Twitter and Facbook pages. Greg D’Amico kept an online blog on his website and posted answers to submitted voters questions.
The Welland mayoral race was one of the most interesting race’s in Niagara since the incumbent mayor, Goulbourne, decided not to run and the seat was up for grabs. Welland has faced tough times recently with massive job losses due to the loss of manufacturing in the city. The tough times and new developments (Flatwater track for PanAm Games, new development around hospital, etc) seemed spurred some innovative thinking and created a pool of great candidates in this campaign. I think people were interested in this campaign because of the positive momentum that has been building to help rebuild Welland.
Tags: facebook, mayor, municipal election, niagara municipal election 2010, political communication, social media, welland, welland election 2010
