Scott Gillingham has been elected as the mayor of Winnipeg.
Gillingham, first elected as councillor for the St. James ward in 2014 and re-elected in 2018, was the city’s finance chair for more than five years, among other committee roles.
Prior to politics, he served as a pastor for more than two decades.
Although official election results have yet to be confirmed by the city, Gillingham was neck-and-neck with candidate Glen Murray throughout most of Wednesday night, something Gillingham addressed when speaking to his supporters.
“Tonight, the votes were very split,” he said.
“This was an extremely close race, but my campaign motto has been, from the start, uniting to build a stronger Winnipeg.
“It will be my goal to make every effort through the coming months and years of this term to unite Winnipeg together, so we can build a stronger, brighter city.”
Unofficial numbers from the polls as of 10:45 p.m. Wednesday show Gillingham pulled in 53,663 votes over Murray’s 49,272.
Murray, a former mayor of Winnipeg seen as the frontrunner in early polls, was the subject of controversy late in the campaign when allegations of sexual harassment — which the candidate emphatically denied — at a previous position in Calgary arose.
Murray, whose 65th birthday Wednesday didn’t coincide with a victory at the polls, told his supporters he would continue to work to improve the city of Winnipeg.
“We have more than enough people and more than enough power in this room to change the future course of the city,” he said. “And while we may not be doing it in exactly in the way that we had planned, that mission is no less important.”
With incumbent mayor Brian Bowman stepping down from the city’s top job after two terms, a total of 11 candidates hashed it out for a chance to lead the city in this fall’s campaign.
Former Charleswood Coun. Kevin Klein came in third behind Murray with 28,567 votes, just slightly ahead of Shaun Loney who brought in 28,567 votes, according to the unofficial numbers from polling stations.
Here’s a look at the candidates who were unsuccessful in their bid for mayor:
Idris Adelakun
A professional biosystems engineer and project manager, Adelakun brings educational experience to the table from Canada, the United States, and Nigeria.
Unofficial polling numbers as of 10:45 p.m. Wednesday showed Adelakun finished 10th in the race with 1,263 votes.
Rana Bokhari
Bokhari is likely best known to Winnipeggers as the former leader of the Liberal Party of Manitoba. A practicing lawyer, Bokhari specializes in helping Indigenous people and those from marginalized communities navigate the legal process.
Unofficial polling numbers as of 10:45 p.m. Wednesday showed Bokhari finished 7th in the race with 5,900 votes.
Chris Clacio
Clacio, a first-generation Canadian, has spent the past 16 years as a volunteer for numerous community initiatives. He has previously run for mayor and for school trustee in the Seven Oaks School Division.
Unofficial polling numbers as of 10:45 p.m. Wednesday showed Clacio finished 11th in the race with 451 votes.
Kevin Klein
Business executive Klein has served as councillor for the Charleswood-Tuxedo-Westwood ward since 2018. Among his past roles are publisher of the Winnipeg Sun and divisional president at MTS.
Shaun Loney
Previously employed by the province directing Manitoba’s energy policies, Loney has spent the past two decades working to create socially and community-conscious organizations aimed at job creation, fighting poverty and homelessness, and using geothermal energy.
Jenny Motkaluk
Runner-up to Bowman in the 2018 mayoral race, Motkaluk is an entrepreneur and self-described ambassador for Winnipeg. Her current project is a business development platform, Cumula, through which she trains companies to improve their revenue-generating capacity.
Unofficial polling numbers as of 10:45 p.m. Wednesday showed Motkaluk finished 6th in the race with 7,443 votes.
Glen Murray
Murray has plenty of past experience at City Hall: he was mayor of Winnipeg from 1998 to 2004, and the first openly gay mayor of a major city in North America. He later spent seven years as a member of Ontario’s provinicial legislature, and ran for the federal Green Party leadership in 2020.
Robert-Falcon Ouellette
Formerly the Member of Parliament for Winnipeg Centre, Ouellette finished third in the 2014 mayoral election. Prior to his career in politics, he was a veteran of more than 25 years in the Canadian Armed Forces, as well as an academic administrator.
Unofficial polling numbers as of 10:45 p.m. Wednesday showed Ouellette finished fifth in the race with 15,029 votes.
Rick Shone
Businessman Shone, who has an educational background in psychology, is the owner of an outdoors shop that has expanded to three locations, as well as the founder of Swamp Donkey Adventure Racing, which has held more than 50 events since its inception.
Unofficial polling numbers as of 10:45 p.m. Wednesday showed Shone finished 8th in the race with 2,570 votes.
Don Woodstock
A Winnipeg Transit operator and security business owner, Woodstock is a familiar face to Winnipeg voters, having participated in numerous municipal and provincial elections in the past. He has long been involved in community organizing and events, and has lobbied City Hall on multiple issues over the years.
Unofficial polling numbers as of 10:45 p.m. Wednesday showed Woodstock finished 9th in the race with 1,889 votes.
With files from The Canadian Press