October 16, 2022
Another election is in the books!
Two thousand, one hundred and three voters coloured in the oval next to my name.
And that’s why this campaign was a success.
Did I win a seat on council in the Township of Langley? No, obviously not. I finished 26th of 28 candidates.
Were other candidates forced to address major issues which I brought up? For the most part, no.
I didn’t have the campaign I wanted. I missed two all candidates and was tied up at work during the last two weeks of the campaign (Thanksgiving is a big deal for the food and grocery industry!)
I lacked the resources I would have needed to elevate myself to my original goal of finishing in the top half of candidates.
But I’m very proud of a few things that occurred during this campaign.
- I had multiple people reach out to me to ask if there were more candidates LIKE ME that they could vote for.
- A Green Party candidate told me that I got their vote – likely not for my suggestions for addressing Climate Change, but probably because of my integrity, consistency, and trustworthiness. (Side note: I was once told by a different Green Party candidate that I’d be great on the Green Party ticket.)
- A few people did come up to me after all candidates meetings to ask for more information about some of my platform ideas and tell me they agreed with me on others. Election campaigns are excellent vehicles to education the populace, and even if it was only a handful that benefited, I am extremely satisfied.
- It’s the most votes I’ve ever received! In a “pick eight” scenario it is possible I wasn’t many people’s number one choice, but thousands (plural!) thought I was at least worthy of a top-eight finish. Of all the elections I’ve run in I have not breached 2,000 votes so this was a milestone for me.
What comes next?
I focus on being the interim leader of the BC Libertarian Party until our AGM in May.
I double-down on my role as vice president of the Valley Ball Hockey Association and try to grow and improve the sport of ball hockey, making it more fair and accessible to all.
I lean into some more PAC work at my son’s school – as vice president I love being at the front lines of a relationship between parents and the school administration.
I will enjoy some time watching my son Allister tend the crease in LMHA – and look forward to coaching his roller hockey squad at the Hockey House again soon!
I’ll re-focus my mind on my employment and re-invest in the meat department I manage – we’re struggling with lack of staff, but we can do better.
But most important? There is a long overdue date night coming up with my wife Vanessa, who worked tirelessly to ensure I had a functioning website for this campaign and supported me in this entire ordeal.
Thank you so much to all who participated in this democratic process, even if you didn’t vote for me. Having less than a third of eligible voters dictate the politicians who can literally turn your water on and off is a crazy statistic, so I appreciate those that took the time to learn about all of us politicians and make an informed decision.
And to the 2,103 that voted for me – it was not a wasted vote.
I see you. You voted for personal responsibility, more choice and less government overreach.
And you know what? When the political pundits see how many votes Alex Joehl got, they know what each and every single one of those votes means.
I’ll see you all around town and I’ll be on a ballot again in 2024 (or sooner!)
Alex