Mayoral Candidate David Pearson Wins Close Election Democrat David Pearson became the newest mayor of Danville after a close election ended Tuesday night. Pearson defeated his opponent, Republican Shirley Owens, by just 27 votes. Many local officials had predicted a close race, but no one knew it would be decided by such a slim margin. After the results came in late Tuesday night, Pearson held a press conference at his campaign headquarters to announce his victory and thank his opponent. “I want to thank Shirley for running a clean campaign and keeping things civil, despite a few of our heated debates,” Pearson said to a round of applause. Pearson was surrounded by his family, including wife Trina and son Michael, as well as several top members of his campaign staff. Pearson only spoke for a few minutes, clearly tired after a long day of awaiting results. Surrounded by friends and family, Shirley Owens spoke from her office on the other side of town. “Most importantly, I want to thank the citizens of Danville for participating in the political process, and I have loved meeting and working with so many of you over the past two years,” she said before congratulating Pearson on his win. She spoke for ten minutes before taking a few questions. According to Owens, she hopes to continue working in the local government, although she announced no specific plans. Several citizens of Danville were surprised that Owens lost, as she had come out ahead in several polls taken over the past few months. However, most local residents were not very concerned with the results, as the majority of the town noted that both Pearson and Owens had similar views on many popular issues. This election actually had one of the lowest turnouts in Danville history. Sarah Burgeson, a local representative who works on the election board, attributed this to people’s lack of concern for either candidate. “Most people felt David and Shirley had similar views, so they weren’t really concerned with choosing one over the other,” said Burgeson. Pearson is expected to take over as mayor at the beginning of next month. Downloaded from http://www.wikihow.com