A first-term councillor, Gavin Baskett is Winton’s new mayor.
Elected to council in 2016, Cr Baskett was on Wednesday declared the victor in the four-way vote taking place in the shadow of the noisy state election.
He received 225 first preference votes, or 32.1 per cent, ahead of fellow councillor, Travis Harbour, with 202 votes (28.9pc) deputy mayor, Shane “Boo” Mann, on 171 votes (24.4pc), and non-council candidate, Debbie Nicholls, who had 101 votes, or 14pc of first preferences.
Once Ms Nicholls’ votes were distributed, Cr Baskett had a clear majority.
The election was called following the death of Butch Lenton in office on October 1 after an intense battle with cancer.
Cr Baskett said he was excited about the opportunity the community had entrusted him with, and he looked forward to working with them to ensure Winton continued to be a great place to live.
He has spent 30 years in the western Queensland community, moving there to work in the transport industry.
"I fell in love with Winton, married Joanne, raised our children Mitch and Syd here, bought the newsagency 20 years ago and will probably never leave,” he said.
Often seen blowing the whistle as a rugby league referee, Cr Baskett has involved himself in many projects in his 18 months on the council, such as the reconstruction of the Waltzing Matilda Centre, the construction of floodways and footpaths, sealing the road to the Australian Age of Dinosaurs museum, and events such as the Outback Festival and Vision Splendid Film Festival.
He said he would be working hard to maintain Winton’s workforce and assist business development, where appropriate.
Rural road standards and continual tourism promotion were also high on his priority list, as well as apprenticeships and traineeships for local youth.