Katz wins third term as Winnipeg mayor

WINNIPEG – Sam Katz will return to the mayor’s office for a third and final term, as he has won a decisive victory Wednesday over former NDP MP Judy Wasylycia-Leis.

With 82 per cent of the vote in, Katz has amassed 101,277 votes compared to 78,245 for Wasylycia-Leis. He has captured 56 per cent of the popular vote.

Katz was originally elected in the 2004 civic byelection called after former mayor Glen Murray resigned to run for federal office. Murray, who now lives in Toronto, is currently a provincial cabinet minister in Ontario’s Liberal government.

In 2004, Katz defeated four other high-profile candidates – Dan Vandal, Al Golden, MaryAnn Mihychuk and Garth Steek – and received 99,015 votes, which translated into 43 per cent of the mayoral vote.

In 2006, facing a less formidable trio of opponents, Katz won re-election with 104,379 votes and 62 per cent of the popular vote.

Both previous victories were relatively easy for the entrepreneur turned politician. This year, facing an organized opponent in the form Wasylycia-Leis, who quit to run for mayor, Katz hired an experienced campaign manager in the form of Conservative organizer Marni Larkin, who recruited volunteers to help identify supporters and bring them to the polls on election day.

Throughout the mayoral campaign, Katz made only seven campaign announcements, down from 10 in 2006 and 30 in 2004.

His strategy was to run on his record and present himself as better positioned to deal with crime and the city’s finances than Wasylcia-Leis, whom he attempted to portray as "the civic leader of the NDP."

Katz repeatedly complained of union and NDP involvement in the mayoral race, while downplaying his own Conservative party ties.

Once he gets back to work, one of the mayor’s first tasks will be to heal the wounds of a council that may wind up being even more divided along ideological lines.