Mark Peterson was elected for his third term as Mayor, and fifth on Council in the Township of Blandford-Blenheim following the Municipal Election, which was held on Monday, October 26, 2026.
The Township of Blandford-Blenheim is located in Oxford County, northwest of Paris, and has a population of around 8,000 people. Communities within the Township include Bright, Drumbo, Plattsville, Princeton and Washington, to name a few.
Patterson captured 68.7 per cent of the vote ahead of Clayton Haight with 31.3 per cent.
A total of 2,473 ballots were cast out of 6,557 eligible electors, with Peterson receiving 1,678 votes compared to Haight’s 764, giving Peterson a winning margin of 914 votes.
Peterson, who first joined Council in 2010 and served two terms as Councillor before being elected as Mayor in 2018, said he was thrilled to be re-elected once again.
“I’m incredibly honoured to be selected again. It’s hard to believe that by the end of this new term, I’ll have been doing this for 20 years; that’s not something I take lightly,” he said. “I knocked on over 2,000 doors in the Township and I put in a lot of work into meeting people, talking with them and finding out their concerns. It’s a lot of area to cover and I do it all myself, I don’t hire anybody to help me. So, to get almost 70 per cent of the vote really makes me feel good inside.”
Born and raised in Drumbo, Peterson’s family has been part of the Township since 1852. He said his family roots and his longstanding commitment to the community is what inspired him to get involved in politics in the first place.
“My family has been here a long time, my great-grandfather was actually the Warden of Oxford County in 1924. That family history, and getting to represent my community is what gives me the drive to keep going. I was a firefighter for 17 years, I’ve been a member of the Lions Club for 20 years, I’ve coached hockey, and I’ve run or played ball in nearly every community in the Township, and so I’ve always been big on volunteering and being active in the community,” he said. “I don’t do any of that to get a pat on the back or any kind of award or trophy. I do it because I want to make a difference in the Township. That’s why I got into politics in the first place. I didn’t want to be a complainer, I wanted to be somebody that did something for the community. Everything else is just a bonus.”
Peterson said one of his big priorities for this next term of Council is to continue working on the start of industrial development near the Highway 401 interchange at Exit 250.
“Getting some industrial growth there is going to be critical for our Township. It’s key for our tax base and I’ve been working on that for eight years now. We have some things approved up there, but the market is slow right now so it’s been sitting there stagnant. It’s frustrating because some things in politics seem to take forever, but that’s my top priority for the next four years, to make sure we get some shovels in the ground and get that going,” he said. “Speeding is a big concern among residents, so that’s something I really want to stress this term. Township-wise it’s a lot easier to handle, but when you talk about the County network where they want the flow to keep going, that’s where the issue is. I’m actually part of the County’s ad hoc committee, and we just finished up meetings about coming up with a plan to slow things down and I’m looking forward to seeing what staff comes up with.”
Peterson continued, “Another big thing I heard at the door was taxes and affordability. Township-wise, we have the lowest taxes of the five rural communities in Oxford County. I’m very proud of that, especially because we don’t have that big industrial base to offset that, but people still ask what can be done about that. This term I’ll continue to look at what we actually need and why we need it when it comes to budget time. If it’s going to save us money in the long run, great. But if it’s just a want, we have to look at it again and reconsider.”
As for the other Council members, both Nancy Demarest and Bruce Banbury were also re-elected as Councillors, having received 1,710 votes and 1,113 votes respectively. As Daryl Barnes chose not to seek re-election, Bob Shoemaker will join Council after receiving 1,368 votes. Tina Young was acclaimed as Deputy Mayor, while all school board trustees were also filled by acclamation.
Sarah Matheson, Clerk for the Township of Blandford-Blenheim, officially certified the election results on Tuesday, October 27, and the newly elected Mayor, Deputy Mayor and Councillors will officially take office on November 18, 2026.
Peterson added that he is looking forward to welcoming back the returning Council members and working with Shoemaker around the table.
“Bob has lived here his whole life, his family has been in this area for a long time as well, and I think he’ll be a good fit with his experience. I’ve been extremely lucky over the past 16 years to have worked with Councils that have always been very respectful, and so I’m happy to have everyone back, and it will be nice to have a new person in there with fresh ideas. We had some good candidates running for Council, even the fellow that ran against me, and I’m proud of the people who chose to do that because that means they care about their community. I really commend all of them for putting their name in.”
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
