In a small but close election, Dr. Julia Pillsbury wins the vacant seat on the Dover City Council Tuesday night.
The 1st District seat was left open when Councilperson Matthew Lindell announced his family's move out of the district.
Pillsbury received 272 votes, while her opponent, Brandy Walker, got 236.
Both candidates ran with a focus on public safety and revitalizing the city’s downtown, but offered different approaches to those issues.
This is Pillsbury’s first time winning an election for public office. She unsuccessfully ran for Insurance Commissioner in the 2020 election against incumbent Trinidad Navarro.
Pillsbury is a pediatrician and has lived in Dover for 30 years. She previously served in the Air Force.
Pillsbury will serve the rest of Lindell’s term, which ends in May of 2023.
She’ll be serving alongside council-person Gerald Rocha in the first district.
Roman Battaglia is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms.
