Mayor Margaret in the hot seat
MARGARET Strelow has confirmed she will be Rockhampton Regional Council's next Mayor.
Ms Strelow announced the news on Facebook and Twitter, saying she had beaten her closest candidate for the mayoralty, Tim Griffin, after preferences were counted yesterday.
She posted: "Final count is in.. I have 22024 to Tim Griffin's 18659... thankyou to every one for your support. It is an honour to serve you again".
The Mayor-elect told The Morning Bulletin she had already unofficially assumed some of her mayoral duties yesterday.
Ms Strelow said she had been to the council office to discuss the budget and had spoken with Minister for Natural Resources and Mines Andrew Cripps.
Mr Griffin congratulated Ms Strelow, but did not rule out running a third time for the mayoralty. "I'm on the right side of 50, the other candidates are not ... it took Abraham Lincoln three shots," he said.
Mr Griffin also thanked his supporters.
The pair received the news yesterday, despite last night's Electoral Commission Queensland's official tallies showing Ms Strelow with 19,088 votes and Mr Griffin with 15,330.
