Decent Margin Surprises Winner On Chesterfield Council

Ten-term City Councilmember Barry Flachsbart said Tuesday night he was "surprised" by the margin of his win over newcomer David Arbogast.

"I thought it would be much closer," Flachsbart said late Tuesday, when contacted by phone. "I thought it would be neck-and-neck."

Results Ward 1 Chesterfield City Council 

(With 7 of 7 precincts counted)

Barry Flachsbart . . . . . . . . 821 votes   61.45 percent

David Arbogast. . . . . . . . . 513 votes   38.40 percent

Write-in. . . . . . . . . . . 2 votes     .15 percent

Despite his recenty broken leg, Flachsbart went by Ward 1 polling sites every hour or so delivering doughnuts and water to his team members working outside.

Flachsbart broke his leg campaigning door-to-door when he slipped on leaves on a driveway, fell, and required emergency surgery.

His challenger, Arbogast, spent a good deal of Tuesday outside Green Trails Elementary School, greeting voters.

Arbogast said Tuesday he had prepared a response to questions about why he had never voted in Chesterfield elections before, despite being a lifelong resident. However, he said since "no one" asked him about it, he wasn't going to share the response with Chesterfield Patch. Arbogast is 35 years old.

Arbogast indicated during the day that he would likely be unavailable for a comment Tuesday night.

Flachsbart said he believed he lost the support of some residents to Arbogast over the apparently incendiary issue of killing yard squirrels with airguns, pellet guns in suburban yards, and also over consideraton of preserving an old farmhouse in Eberwein Park.

"I just try to do the very best I can," Flachsbart said. "I'll keep trying to listen to (constituents.")

Flachsbart said he was pleased to have his opponent, Arbogast, on the city's advisory committee for information technology.

Ward 2 Chesterfield City Council 

(With 9 of 9 precincts counted)

Elliot Grissom  . . . . . . . . 772 votes   73.45 percent

Tania Pappas  . . . . . . . . . .  274 votes   26.07 percent

Write-in. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 votes     .48 percent

Chesterfield City Council Ward 3 incumbent Mike Casey was re-elected with 763 votes and 19 write-in votes.

Chesterfield City Council Ward 4 incumbent Connie Fults was re-elected unopposed.