Republican Nick Walding easily defended his 3rd District seat on the Chesterton Town Council in Tuesday’s general municipal election, fending off the challenge of Democrat Brian Mulholland.

Walding took 314 votes to Mulholland’s 266 or 54.1 percent.

Walding—who was elected by caucus in April 2010 to fill the seat vacated by Dave Cincoski’s appointment to Chief of Police—campaigned on a three-point platform: government frugality and efficiency; smart development focusing on health-care services, especially along the Ind. 49 corridor, and emergency and disaster preparedness.

“I’m just pleased with the result,” Walding told the Chesterton Tribune this morning. “I’m happy and grateful to those who came out and also to the family and friends who supported me.”

“I plan to continue working with the council as I have for the last 18 months,” Walding added. “We’re going to work as a team as much as possible.”

Mulholland, a firefighter with AlliedBarton at ArcelorMittal—and a volunteer with the Porter Fire Department—similarly expressed interest in smart development, in particular residential but also commercial. Like Walding, Mulholland favors the development of the Ind. 49 corridor.

Walding took all but three of the eight precincts, with his biggest margin in Westchester 8, which he won 52 votes to 27. Mulholland took Westchester 1, 4, and 12.

With only a single contested race on the ballot in Chesterton, Tuesday’s turn-out was low, very low actually: only 6.9 percent, compared to 22.4 percent in 2007, when there were three contested races; and 14.7 percent in 2003, when again there was only one contested race.

The precinct with the lowest turnout was Jackson 1, none of whose 31 registered voters went to the polls; followed by Liberty 1, where only 4.5 percent of its 512 registered voters cast ballots.

The precinct with the biggest turnout was Westchester 1, with 10.5 percent of its 557 registered voters casting ballots; followed by Westchester 3, with 9.0 of its 1,037 registered voters doing so.

For the record, 114 voters or 19.4 percent cast straight-ticket Republican ballots, while 100 or 17.0 percent cast straight-ticket Democratic ballots.