Winners in Eastern Ontario mayoral elections look ahead to the next four years

It was a fairly close race in Gananoque for mayor on election night.

John Beddows came out victorious, unseating the incumbent Ted Lojko.

This is Beddows’ first time holding public office, after running unsuccessfully for mayor in 2018.

“I’ve got a lot to learn,” he says.

“I don’t have an exhaustive background on the bylaws in the town of Gananoque, so I’ve got a lot of reading and learning to do. People may think I’m crazy to say this, but I’m looking forward to diving into the books in a detailed way, to understand not just where we are, but where we can go.”

Gananoque’s incumbent mayor Ted Lojko was quickly on the phone to congratulate Beddows on his victory.

Lojko served as the town’s mayor for one term.

“I wish him and his team all the best moving forward,” says Lojko.

“There will be a lot of challenges in the next year, and hopefully they will be able to look at some of the things needed to be done in the town moving forward.”

Meanwhile, in South Frontenac Township, incumbent mayor Ron Vandewal won handily for a third term.

He hopes to get some road projects completed over the next four years in the region.

“That’s going to take an awful lot of money, and we’re hoping that we can do a partnership with the city to see if we can get a grant somehow. Sunbury Road is also another major project.”

In Smiths Falls, the incumbent Shawn Pankow won in a landslide victory.

This will be his third term as mayor, and his top priority is replacing the town’s aging infrastructure.

“While it’s not cool to say we’re fixing pipes and redoing roads, it’s a necessity,” says Pankow.

“In the day and age of climate change, I worry about the risk of atmospheric rivers and heavy storms hitting our community. We have a very aged sewer system, which is not prepared to deal with that, probably.”

In Brockville, Matt Wren was acclaimed as mayor, with no challengers running against him.

There was also no race in Prescott, where Gauri Shankar was acclaimed as the town’s mayor.

The mayor-elects will be sworn into office on November 15th.