Update #2 – 9:40 p.m.
Mayor Jim Watson will work with a number of new faces on council as newcomers took vacant seats or beat out incumbents in seven wards across Ottawa in Monday’s election.
Newcomers Glen Gower, Shawn Menard and Carol Anne Meehan all defeated incumbents to take seats in the Stittsville, Capital and Gloucester-South Nepean wards, respectively.
Jenna Sudds, former executive director of the Kanata North Business Association, is the new councillor for Kanata North, replacing the retiring Coun. Marianne Wilkinson and beating out David Gourlay and Matt Muirhead.
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Matthew Luloff took the 17-person race for the council seat in Orléans, edging out Catherine Kitts by 250 votes.
Laura Dudas took the seat vacated by Jody Mitic in Innes ward while Theresa Kavanagh won the Bay ward seat left open by the outgoing Mark Taylor.
Full list of 2018 municipal election winners: (*notes new councillor)
Mayor: Jim Watson
Orléans: Matthew Luloff*
Innes: Laura Dudas*
Barrhaven: Jan Harder
Kanata North: Jenna Sudds*
West Carleton-March: Eli El-Chantiry
Stittsville: Glen Gower*
Bay: Theresa Kavanagh*
College: Rick Chiarelli
Knoxdale-Merivale: Keith Egli
Gloucester-Southgate: Diane Deans
Beacon Hill-Cyrville: Tim Tierney
Rideau-Vanier: Mathieu Fleury
Rideau-Rockcliffe: Tobi Nussbaum
Somerset: Catherine McKenney
Kitchissippi: Jeff Leiper
River: Riley Brockington
Capital: Shawn Menard*
Alta Vista: Jean Cloutier
Cumberland: Stephen Blais
Osgoode: George Darouze
Rideau-Goulbourn: Scott Moffatt
Gloucester-South Nepean: Carol Anne Meehan*
Kanata South: Allan Hubley
Update #1 – 9 p.m.
Jim Watson swept his way towards a third-straight mandate as mayor of Ottawa, winning roughly 72 per cent of the vote with a third of polls reporting by 8:50 p.m. on Monday. Clive Doucet, former councillor of Capital ward and Watson’s closest challenger, had 22 per cent at reporting time.
“Ladies and gentleman, I love Ottawa!” Watson told cheering supporters in a victory speech at his campaign headquarters just before 8:40 on Monday evening. The long-serving mayor was grateful in his remarks and embraced the responsibility of running the fourth successful mayoral election campaign of his career.
“I know that I am a tenant of that office and I must earn the right every four years through your trust and confidence to remain in that very special office,” he said.
A number of races for city council remain tight with most polls reporting.
With slightly more than 2,300 votes counted in Gloucester-South Nepean, Carol Anne Meehan has 43 per cent of the vote, leading over incumbent Michael Qaqish who has 37 per cent.
Glen Gower has nearly 60 per cent of the vote in Stittsville, leading over incumbent Shad Qadri.
Three candidates in Capital ward – Shawn Menard, Anthony Carricato and Christine McAllister – are currently leading over incumbent councillor David Chernushenko.
In Kanata North, Jenna Sudds is leading with 45 per cent of the vote, while Matt Muirhead and David Gourlay trail a few hundred votes behind.
The Orléans race remains quite tight, with Matthew Luloff leading at 23 per cent of the vote, only 60 votes ahead of Catherine Kitts.
Laura Dudas leads Donna Leith-Gudbranson by a few hundred votes with 34 per cent of the vote in Innes ward.
Background:
Jim Watson will seek a third straight term as mayor of Ottawa and 23 wards will decide on their representatives for the next four years as the nation’s capital heads to the polls on Monday.
Watson will fend off 11 other rivals vying to be Ottawa’s next mayor – chief among them Clive Doucet, a former councillor for Capital ward. Doucet ran for mayor unsuccessfully in 2010, but this time he has built a platform around affordable housing and transit, including a proposed regional rail system to connect Ottawa with surrounding municipalities alongside the second phase of the capital’s light-rail line.
For his part, Watson has promised to increase municipal funding to Invest Ottawa and the Ottawa Film Office, reduce patio fees paid by bars and restaurants and make affordable housing along the LRT route a priority. He also pledged to cap tax increases at three per cent, an increase from his 2014 campaign promise to keep tax hikes to two per cent.
Within wards, some incumbent councillors will have a battle on their hands from high-profile challengers. Former CTV news anchor Carol Anne Meehan looks to oust Michael Qaqish from his seat in Gloucester-South Nepean, while Ryan Kennery – Watson’s former adviser and a senior strategist at MediaStyle – will challenge Rick Chiarelli in College ward.
A few council members have stepped aside in the 2018 race to allow a fresh crop of candidates to vye for a seat.
Former Ottawa Champions president David Gourlay will take on Jenna Sudds, the inaugural director of the Kanata North Business Association, to fill the seat left vacant by political veteran Marianne Wilkinson in Kanata North.
Looking to replace Coun. Jody Mitic in Innes ward are a number of well-known candidates such as Laura Dudas and Donna Leith-Gudbranson, both community association presidents in the ward, as well as Tammy Lynch, who worked in Mitic’s office.
The election’s biggest ballot of the night is in Orléans, where 17 candidates are squaring off to replace outgoing councillor Bob Monette.
Voting is open Monday until 8 p.m. and results are expected to start coming in half an hour after polls close. OBJ will be updating this page live as results come in.
