You read it right — Libertarian Matt Drew scored a second place finish last night in Durham’s Ward II council race. Incumbent Howard Clement garnered 60 percent of the vote. Drew received 12 percent or so. That means Drew will face off against Clement in the Nov. 3 general election. From the Herald-Sun:
The Ward 2 balloting produced the night’s big surprise in the form of its second-place finisher. Matt Drew, a registered Libertarian, polled 725 votes, close to 12½ percent.
That was enough to carry him past fellow challenger Sylvester Williams, who got 634 votes, nearly 11 percent. Darius Little finished fourth with 630 votes, also around 11 percent, and Sandra Howell trailed the field with 332 votes, not quite 6 percent.
Drew credited his showing to his being the only Ward 2 challenger who voiced a small-government philosophy. The others, he said, had relatively similar platforms and split their potential support.
“I had a very focused constituency,†Drew said. “The three candidates eliminated in the primary got far more votes than I did. There clearly was a divide [among] people interested in the other platform.â€