It’s civic election day in Manitoba and Winnipeggers have decided to grant their mayor a second term, with a voter turnout of 42.33%.
Mayor Brian Bowman, who faced challenges from seven other candidates, took an early lead as results started to come in, and will be returning to City Hall for a second term as mayor.
WATCH: Bowman gives his thanks after re-election for mayor of Winnipeg
WATCH: Team Jenny concedes Winnipeg mayoral election
Global News/680 CJOB has declared election wins for:
- Brian Mayes (St. Vital)
- Sherri Rollins (Fort Rouge/East Fort Garry)
- Scott Gillingham (St. James)
- Ross Eadie (Mynarski)
- Jeff Browaty (North Kildonan)
- John Orlikow (River Heights/Fort Garry)
- Matt Allard (St. Boniface)
- Shawn Nason (Transcona)
- Devi Sharma (Old Kildonan),
- Jason Schreyer (Elmwood-East Kildonan),
- Kevin Klein (Charleswood-Tuxedo)
- Cindy Gilroy (Daniel McIntyre)
- Markus Chambers (St. Norbert – Seine River)
- Vivian Santos (Point Douglas)
Janice Lukes (Waverley West) was previously acclaimed.
The city also voted in a non-binding plebiscite on whether it’s time to permanently demolish the barriers at Portage and Main, which are crumbling. The ‘no’ side has won with a commanding lead.
During the first two hours of voting Wednesday, 20,338 people voted, a decrease from 23,683 ballots cast during the same time frame on Election Day in 2014.
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However, numbers released by the city late last week show advance voting numbers were up by about 9,000 ballots.
The total number of ballots cast as of 4 p.m. is 90,523, which is a significant drop from 2014 when 99,019 had been cast by the same time.
Some of the things we were watching closely tonight:
- Main Bowman challenger Jenny Motkaluk was out on the campaign trail early, establishing herself as a credible candidate throughout the summer. She focused on tackling violent crime and the meth crisis in a campaign that sometimes went over-the-top (Chicken, anyone?) She was endorsed by four councillors, including Janice Lukes, Ross Eadie, Jeff Browaty and Jason Schreyer, but lost to the incumbent.
- in 2014 Bowman campaigned on cleaning up backroom deals at city hall and being more transparent. He kept his promise to hold property tax increases to 2.33 per cent or lower, but brought in new impact fees and withered under the political pressure of a plebiscite for Portage and Main. Voters are giving him a second term, which is in line with historical Winnipeg elections – an incumbent mayor hasn’t lost since 1956.
- Transcona will see a brand new councillor, Shawn Nason, for the first time in 16 years after Russ Wyatt bowed out when he was charged with sexual assault. He denies those charges and they have not been proven in court. With no incumbent running, eight others were looking for a shot, including a police officer, a nurse, a marketing director and even a convicted criminal.
WATCH: Transcona’s new city councillor says he is overwhelmed with the win
- Ward realignments meant two incumbents were fighting for one spot in St. James. St. Charles councillor Shawn Dobson faced off against St. James councillor Scott Gillingham – the eventual winner – for the position. Kurt Morton was also running in the ward. The two councillors battled on one of the ward’s hot topics — the land transfer of Vimy Arena to become the Bruce Oake Recovery Centre. The centre is not yet a done deal, but Dobson was vehemently opposed.
- Another fresh face – Markus Chambers – in what was once known as South Winnipeg-St. Norbert, now called St. Norbert-Seine River. Five people were vying for the right to represent the ward which spans both sides of the River, and former Coun. Lukes opted to run in the new ward that was created, Waverley West. She was the only councillor who was acclaimed.
After the polls close, 680CJOB will go live for two hours of election results coverage, and we will bring you all the details.
From 10 p.m. until 11 p.m., Global News will have all the analysis you’ll need on who won and what that means for you.
Find the results later today here.
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