Gallagher heartbroken over campaign withdrawal, says he would resign if elected

Nick Gallagher says having to end his Russell Township council campaign has been heartbreaking, and he would resign his seat if voters still elected him.

Gallagher announced his decision in an email to council members and fellow candidates at 11:21 a.m. Thursday, saying he was withdrawing after his employer flagged a potential conflict of interest.

Gallagher said correspondence from his employer more than a month ago indicated he could continue campaigning while the situation received further review. He assumed that meant serving on council would also be possible.

“I’d received just some correspondence that I was okay to continue,” he said. His employer was “going to just look into it a little more.”

“Maybe I should have asked more questions. Maybe that’s on my fault,” he said. “I figured what would be the point in then being allowed to continue if I couldn’t do that anyways.”

Asked whether he would resign if elected, Gallagher was unequivocal.

“And yes, I, unfortunately, I would resign,” he said. “I don’t want to put any perceived risk of, uh, of conflict of interest, you know, overshadowing anything I had to do with the township either.”

The decision ended a campaign he said had become increasingly rewarding.

“I wanted to get involved and want to be part of the community, but even I was surprised at how much I really enjoyed it and how much I enjoyed the conversation going door to door, getting to know people,” he said.

He also worried about the people who had offered their support.

“I feel really bad for all the people, you know, I also went and spoke to and hopefully said they were going to vote for me,” he said, explaining that he wondered whether he had wasted their time.

Removing his campaign signs was where the decision stung most, he said. He hopes to remain involved and potentially run again.

Township clerk Joanne Camiré Laflamme said Gallagher’s name must remain on the ballot and the election will proceed. If he is elected and steps down, a separate process involving council would follow. She did not specify whether council would appoint someone or hold a byelection.

Ontario’s Municipal Act generally provides for filling council vacancies by appointment or byelection, subject to timing restrictions. A formal resignation must be filed in writing with the clerk. Council would then declare the vacancy and ordinarily have 60 days to make an appointment or pass a byelection bylaw. The fifth-place candidate would not automatically inherit the seat. The process applicable to a vacancy at the start of the new term has not been confirmed by the township.

Russell has used different approaches before. After Mayor Jean-Paul St-Pierre died in October 2014, a separate mayoral election in December was won by Pierre Leroux. When Leroux resigned in 2024, council appointed Mike Tarnowski mayor and subsequently held a byelection for the vacant councillor seat, won by Charles Armstrong. Neither situation is identical to Gallagher’s.