Catherine Kitts has won the byelection to become the next representative for Cumberland Ward on city council, according to unofficial results.
Racking up a total of 4,736 ballots, Kitts won the vacant seat with 54.4 per cent of the vote.
Yvette Ashiri came in second with almost 22 per cent of the vote.
Kitts, a graduate of Carleton University’s Bachelor of Journalism program and former editor of the Orléans Star newspaper, ran in Orléans Ward in the 2018 municipal election and narrowly lost out to incumbent Matt Luloff.
Unofficial results show 8,708 ballots were cast in the byelection, a 24 per cent voter turnout.
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Kitts is expected to be sworn in as a city councillor on Wednesday.
The Cumberland Ward seat was left vacant earlier this year when then-councillor Stephen Blais won the open seat in the provincial riding of Orléans.
The byelection to replace Blais on council was supposed to happen later that spring, but was delayed due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Ballots were cast on two advance voting days on Sept. 28-29 as well as on byelection day on Monday.
Municipal election officials were also pushing mail-in ballots and proxy voting as safer alternatives during the novel coronavirus pandemic.