In a tiny Burlco town, council candidate wins by a single vote

From a tiny Burlington County community comes proof that every single vote matters.

That lesson was delivered recently in Beverly, a hardscrabble city of 2,600 people that sits on the banks of the Delaware River.

When the absentee and provisional votes cast in this month's general election were certified, Bob Thibault had won a seat on the city council. The tally: 291-290.

"To win by a landslide or a big margin, it's a great thing," said Thibault, a construction company owner. "But to win by one, it means every one of those one votes put me over. Every voter counted. They each helped me win."

Don Arter, who was edged out, said Tuesday he would not seek a recount.

The day after the election, before the absentees and provisionals were formally counted, some local newspapers had declared Arter victorious.

There was drama then, too. Arter also appeared to have squeaked out a win by a single vote: 277-276.

Thibault, who has friends on the County Board of Elections, knew unofficially on election night that the contest's 28 mail-in votes and provisionals had favored him. He knew he was the true winner, he said. He just had to wait patiently until the county clerk did his work.

Thibault, a father of six, said Monday that Arter also was tipped to the actual outcome and "smiled and congratulated me" on election night.

After all, the two have a friendly history. They were running mates on the Republican ticket, vying for two open seats on the five-member, formerly all-Democratic council.

Brian Perkins, a Democrat, was the top vote-getter this time around. Thibault came in second.

In 2006, Thibault was campaign manager for Arter and four other candidates who became the first Republicans to take control of the council in decades. At the time, the council had nine members.

The last recount was in 2005, when incumbent Mayor Robert Lowden Jr., a Democrat, lost by four votes to Jean Wetherill, a Republican. After the recount, Lowden still lost.

Thibault now finds himself in the unenviable position of being the lone Republican on the council beginning in January.

Arter, a high school teacher, sympathizes for his friend.

"It will be a waste of four years of his life. . . . It will be one versus four," he said, adding that he is glad that he was not the only Republican to win.

Thibault knows what he is in for. "I'm not going to get a lot done," he said. "I'll have to be patient."

Like he was when the headlines said he had lost.