AUBURN – Weeks of walking in the snow and knocking on doors paid off for David Young on Tuesday.

He won a sparsely attended election to claim the Ward 4 City Council seat. Young drew 87 votes; candidate Ken Bellefleur garnered 60 votes, and John Morin got 59.

City Clerk Mary Lou Magno said only one of the 207 ballots cast wasn’t counted – the voter had checked the space for a write-in candidate but neglected to put a name there. It took her and the election clerks minutes to count the ballots by hand, with Young nervously watching.

“It could have really gone either way, with three candidates but so few votes,” Young said. “I know (opponents Bellefleur and Morin) had a pretty large friend network they were trying to get out, so I didn’t know what to expect. That could have made it go either way.”

Young will succeed Bruce Bickford, who resigned his seat on the council in November after winning election to the Maine House of Representatives.

All three candidates on Monday agreed that Young had knocked on more doors in the weeks leading up to the vote. All three had campaign signs around Ward 4, but Young’s were recycled. They were left over from a past run for county commissioner. Bellefleur and Morin each had purchased new signs.

Young said he was disappointed by the small voter turnout, especially since he had knocked on so many doors these past couple of weeks.

“I thought I made a real connection with a lot more people, you know,” he said. “I thought I got them a bit more stirred up.”

But that footwork helped him win, he said.

“I spent less than the other candidates, plus a lot of shoe leather,” he said. “I’ve had people tell me that’s how you win. I guess it was right.”

Morin and City Clerk Magno said the new city councilor likely would be sworn in Wednesday. His first meeting on the council will be on Jan. 26.