Mayoral candidate Josh Morrow thanked voters for their support during a difficult campaign that saw him finish fourth behind incumbent Greg Dionne, former provincial cabinet minister Darryl Hickie and former city councillor Dennis Nowoselsky.

Morrow said the COVID-19 outbreak created a lot of problems for candidates, and not just because it limited their interactions with voters. Morrow’s mother underwent chemotherapy throughout October in preparation for a stem cell transplant. During the election, he and other family members have looked after her in shifts, which further limited his ability to interact with the public.

“It was incredibly hard to keep everything together,” Morrow wrote in an email to the Daily Herald. “I had two choices early on: exit the race or follow it through to the end. We choose to finish what we started and ultimately ran my campaign from the cancer clinic.”

While disappointed with the result, Morrow said he enjoyed the experience of campaigning, and congratulated Mayor Greg Dionne on his victory.

Morrow said his campaign fought as hard as they could to get their message out, but health restrictions made it impossible to do it properly.

“You must have a strong ground game,” he wrote. “It is so very important to be visible and engage with the public. I cannot emphasize that enough in municipal politics. This is by no means an excuse. I just wanted to be upfront and honest with people, as well as the media.”

Morrow did not say what his future plans were, or whether he would run again in 2024.