Incumbent mayor Anthony Faulk (Rep.) has defeated Yolanda Perez (Dem.) in a landslide victory. This was Mayor Faulk’s second win, having previously defeated former mayor James Foley in the 2019 mayoral election. Mrs. Perez conceded to Mayor Faulk during a phone call at 9:22 this morning.

“I ran the best campaign I could,” said Mrs. Perez. “I thought more people felt the way I do. Turns out I was wrong.”

For his part, Mayor Faulk had nothing but good things to say about his opponent. “She’s a fighter,” he said of Mrs. Perez. “I don’t agree with a lot of her positions, but she never stooped to mudslinging, even when things were looking grim. I respect her for that. Now that this election’s behind me, I’m looking forward to some big changes coming down the pipeline for our amazing town.”

Those changes include more large retail corporations being granted the right to build new stores in Emerson Valley. This was a major point of contention in the election, as many small businesses have been forced to close their doors after many years of serving our community.

“As a small business owner, I look around at what’s been happening and I fear for my own livelihood,” Mrs. Perez told the Gazette. “Downtown Market is one of the last mom and pop grocery stores on Main Street. Everyone’s shopping at Kroger’s or Walmart now. Emerson Valley’s changed a lot, and there doesn’t seem to be room for people like me anymore.”

Mayor Faulk recently convinced the City Council to approve construction on a Costco in town. Although it will be several years before the store begins operations, it’s indicative of the direction Mayor Faulk wants to take the town in. So far, the results of his “big business” approach have been mixed.

“You can’t judge the health of an economy by the price of gas and eggs,” the mayor insisted. “Statistics can be deceiving. On paper, it might look like we’re in a downturn, but you have to take into account that things like taxes and housing prices have decreased significantly. That means your dollar has a lot more buying power than it did during Mayor Foley’s administration.”

When asked how he intends to celebrate his victory, Mayor Faulk simply chuckled. “Celebrate? I didn’t win the Super Bowl. I just earned the right to keep working. I’ll be back to the grind tonight, working up a good sweat. Too many people think winning is the end of the race, but it’s not. You gotta keep working hard to keep succeeding.”

-Sarah Donovan, Editor & Local News, Emerson Valley Gazette