The New Brunswick municipal election yielded a surprising result Monday night, with three new mayors being elected for the province’s major cities.
Fredericton
In a surprising turn, Fredericton Mayor Brad Woodside was beaten out by Mike O’Brien.
Many thought Woodside would be a shoo-in for another term, however as the final results came in, the gap in the number of votes grew larger between the two. He eventually lost by 1,107 votes.
Woodside had been the mayor of Fredericton since 1986. He served eight terms.
O’Brien, his successor, was elected to council in 2001.
Along with being a councillor, he wears the hat of the chair of the Development Committee, Vice-Chair of Community Services Committee among others.
Moncton
Taking over the mayoral seat in Moncton is Dawn Arnold.
Arnold was elected as Councillor at Large for the city in 2012.
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The race was tight between Brian Hicks and Dawn Arnold as results trickled in.
Arnold will be taking over the seat of long-time mayor George LeBlanc, who was sworn in in 2008. LeBlanc announced earlier this year that he would not be re-offering.
LeBlanc ran for the federal Liberal seat for Moncton-Dieppe-Riverview in the 2015 election, but was defeated by Ginette Petipas Taylor.
Saint John
Don Darling has been elected as the city of Saint John’s new mayor.
Darling won with a comfortable lead over his closest competitortor, Shelley Reinhart.
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Darling will be replacing Mel Norton, who had been in the mayor’s seat since 2012. Norton had focused economic development and sustainable housing.
Darling also defeated runners Bill Farren, Patty Higgins and Howard Arthur Yeomans.