New Westminster's new mayor, Patrick Johnstone, will helm a majority Community First New West council after four of the NDP-affiliated party's six candidates earned spots on council.
Johnstone acknowledged the “incredible” team of candidates he worked with to secure his victory over the New West Progressives' Ken Armstrong and independent Chuck Puchmayr.
“I am a little disappointed that not all of them are going to get over the top," Johnstone told reporter Theresa McManus, as results showed incumbent Chinu Das losing her seat and newcomer Bereket Kebede failing to make a breakthrough, winding up 11th.
Johnstone will also have to work with two new opposition councillors: Paul Minhas and Daniel Fontaine of the New West Progressives, who made a breakthrough into the fifth and sixth spots on council.
But Johnstone said he's prepared to work with them.
“I am not worried about that," he said. "I think everybody has the same goal in mind. I think everyone has the same goal, to serve the city."
9:12: ALL POLLS REPORTING
Patrick Johnstone is the mayor of New Westminster, with a decisive victory over the New West Progressives' Ken Armstrong, at 6,676 votes to 5,227 respectively.
Independent Chuck Puchmayr came in third place, at 3,912 votes.
Community First New West also remains in majority control of the city council table, as newcomer Ruby Campbell is the top vote-getter in the council race, with 8,354 votes. She was followed by her CFNW teammates Jaimie McEvoy, Tasha Henderson and Nadine Nakagawa. Their incumbent teammate, Chinu Das, lost her spot on council, coming in seventh spot.
The final two spots at the council table have been claimed by the New West Progressives, as Paul Minhas came in fifth and Daniel Fontaine in sixth.
The school board, too, remains dominated by Community First New West, as all six of the party's candidates claimed trustee spots. CFNW's incumbent, Maya Russell, was the top vote-getter of the night, gaining 8,785 votes.
Her CFNW teammate, newcomer Marc Andres, took 8,720 votes, while Danielle Connelly — an incumbent with the New West Progressives — took the third-most votes, at 8,703.
CFNW candidates Dee Beattie (incumbent) and Cheryl Sluis (newcomer) also surpassed the 8,000-vote mark en route to securing their spots, while incumbent Gurveen Dhaliwal and newcomer Elliott Slinn rounded out the night in sixth and seventh, respectively.
The New West Progressives' Kathleen Carlsen, who had seesawed for the seventh spot with Slinn throughout the evening, landed in eighth spot, 338 votes out of reach of school board, while her NWP teammate, Teo Dobre, wound up ninth.
9:08 p.m.: 22 of 23 polls reporting
So how about that school board race? Community First's Elliott Slinn has pulled back into the seventh and final spot after his night-long battle with New West Progressives' Kathleen Carlsen. They're now separated by 213 votes.
NW Progressives' Danielle Connelly remains the night's vote leader, with 8,390 votes all in.
8:58 p.m.: 20 of 23 polls reporting
The New Westminster school board race is proving to be interesting, with the New West Progressives' incumbent Danielle Connelly establishing herself firmly on top of the leaderboard, at 7,639 votes — incidentally, the highest vote total so far tonight in any of the three races.
Community First candidates currently hold five of the remaining spots: Maya Russell, Marc Andres, Dee Beattie, Cheryl Sluis and Gurveen Dhaliwal.
The battle for that seventh and final spot on the board has seesawed between Kathleen Carlsen of the New West Progressives and Elliott Slinn of Community First all night long. With three polls left to report, Carlsen sits in that final potential trustee spot — but with a lead of just 73 votes over Slinn.
8:54 p.m.
It's a mixed-news kind of night for Community First New West. While dominant in the mayor's race, and leading the way on council with the first four spots — Ruby Campbell, Jaimie McEvoy, Tasha Henderson and Nadine Nakagawa — it looks like they're poised to lose two seats on council.
Incumbent Chinu Das appears to be on her way out, as the New West Progressives' Paul Minhas and Daniel Fontaine have moved into the fifth and sixth spots, respectively. Newcomer Bereket Kebede of Community First New West is sitting in 11th of 12 council spots, just ahead of independent Daniel Ampong.
8:53 p.m.: 20 of 23 polls reporting
Patrick Johnstone is the mayor and Ruby Campbell is city council's top vote getter.
We feel confident in making those predictions now even while awaiting the final three polls.
8:44 p.m.: 18 of 23 polls reporting
Well, we promised we wouldn't call it before it's over, but Patrick Johnstone looks all but certain to be the next mayor of New Westminster. That's us sort-of-not-quite calling it (although some media outlets already have).
8:35 p.m.: 16 of 23 polls reporting
The New West Progressives' Danielle Connelly continues to lead the school board pack, with a dominant 6,497 votes, followed closely by Maya Russell of Community First New West.
CFNW's Marc Andres, Dee Beattie, Cheryl Sluis and Gurveen Dhaliwal sit currently in the third to sixth spots.
The battle for the seventh and final spot on the board is currently an interesting one, as Elliott Slinn of CFNW is now sitting in seventh, but with the Progressives' Kathleen Carlsen not far behind.
8:33 p.m.
This race is changing faster than we can type — although, if we were betting sorts, we'd bet that Patrick Johnstone is feeling fairly comfortable with his lead, holding strong 15 polls (out of 23) into the night.
Newcomer Ruby Campbell continues to dominate the council race, sitting atop the standings with more than half the polls now in, while the two New West Progressives front-runners, Paul Minhas and Daniel Fontaine, remain in council-seat positions at fifth and sixth.
Taking the other three spots, at the moment, are Jaimie McEvoy, Tasha Henderson and Nadine Nakagawa.
8:28 p.m.
With 12 of 23 polls reporting, it's Patrick Johnstone opening up a comfortable lead, with 3,038 votes to Ken Armstrong's 2,502. Chuck Puchmayr is in third, at 1,846.
8:25 p.m.
Well, look at that, we can't type fast enough to keep up. Nine of 23 polls now reporting and there's a little movement on the council front, with newcomer Ruby Campbell vaulting to the top, followed by her teammates Jaimie McEvoy and Nadine Nakagawa. CFNW's Tasha Henderson is in fifth.
Interestingly, however, two New West Progressives candidates are in the top six spots right now: Paul Minhas in fourth and Daniel Fontaine in sixth.
8:23 p.m.
Well, if the results hold as they are right this moment, Community First New West could be on its way to a crushing victory. Five of the top six council spots are currently held by CFNW candidates, with incumbents Jaimie McEvoy and Nadine Nakagawa on top, followed by Ruby Campbell, Tasha Henderson and Chinu Das. The New West Progressives' Daniel Fontaine has come out swinging with a sixth-place spot.
Remember, just two of 23 polls have reported back so far.
8:21 p.m.
Patrick Johnstone is in the lead — with just two polls reporting. He has 162 votes to Ken Armstrong's 134 and Chuck Puchmayr's 89. Will it hold?
8:00 p.m.
Well, that's it, New West. Let's hope more than 30% of us hit the ballot box today, because that's all she wrote.
Soon we'll start to see who's leading the mayoral race: Ken Armstrong, Patrick Johnstone or Chuck Puchmayr.
7:49 p.m.
Goooooooood evening, New West! Just 11 minutes till the polls close and we're getting ready to bring you the action live. If you're at city hall, where live election results will start coming in sometime after 8 p.m., look for reporter Theresa McManus and photographer Jennifer Gauthier poised to spring into action.
We'll be keeping this post alive all night with the latest, so stay tuned!
11:35 a.m.
There's still time to vote before lunch! Anvil Centre's downtown polling station has a steady (albeit not overwhelming) stream of traffic as of midday, and here's hoping plenty more voters turn out to the polls before they close at 8 p.m. tonight.
If you're wondering where to vote, you can pick whichever of the city's polling stations is most convenient for you.
- Queen Elizabeth Elementary School, gym, 921 Salter St.
- Connaught Heights Elementary School, gym, 2201 London St.
- Lord Tweedsmuir Elementary School, gym, 1714 Eighth Ave.
- Lord Kelvin Elementary School, gym, 1010 Hamilton St.
- St. Barnabas Anglican Church, parish hall, 1010 Fifth Ave.
- Century House, Douglas/Fir Rooms, 620 Eighth St.
- Fraser River Middle School, gym, 800 Queens Ave.
- Anvil Centre, main floor, 777 Columbia St.
- Queens Avenue United Church, gym, 529 Queens Ave.
- Qayqayt Elementary School, gym, 85 Merivale St.
- Herbert Spencer Elementary School, gym, 605 Second St.
- Glenbrook Middle School, gym, 701 Park Cres.
- F.W. Howay Elementary School, gym, 91 Courtney Cres.
- Skwo:wech Elementary School, gym, 331 Richmond St.
- Sapperton Pensioners Hall, basement, 318 Keary St.
And, if you still haven't dropped off your mail-in ballot, you can do so by heading over to New Westminster City Hall — use the doors on the north side (Queens Avenue). Election HQ folks will accept dropped-off ballots until the polls close at 8 p.m.
Vote, vote vote!
8:42 a.m.
Good morning, New Westminster! It's ELECTION DAY!
Coming to you live from the Record's East End Bureau (a.k.a. my kitchen table) to check in and let you know about our coverage for tonight. You'll be able to follow along with the action right here starting around when polls close this evening — that's at 8 p.m., for those who didn't already know.
Reporter Theresa McManus and photographer Jennifer Gauthier will be out on the town catching the action at city hall, where folks will turn out to watch live results starting after 8 p.m., and then they'll head out to the parties where candidates will be celebrating (or commiserating, as the case may be).
I'll be keeping an eye on the action from the newsroom, where I'll oversee our Twitter feed and keep this post up-to-date with the latest results and commentary from the field, and, of course, getting our Sunday newsletter packed with the latest and greatest info from tonight's fun.
A few reminders for those who haven't voted:
Voting places around the city are now open, welcoming folks to cast their ballots for a new mayor, city councillors and school trustees. Arriving at the Skwo:wech Elementary School poll about one minute after opening this morning, my husband and I took our places as voters number 2 and 3 (sadly, another enterprising soul beat me to the coveted No. 1 position). Folks were already starting to trickle in in a pretty steady stream as we left, so let's hope this means we can get voter turnout up today.
If you haven't decided who you're voting for yet, then be sure to check out our roundup of candidates for mayor and council and candidates for school board.
And, if you've got any other questions, be sure to consult our New West local voters' guide.
Should anything of great import happen during the next several hours, I may check back in. But, for now, get out there and vote, and I'll see you later this evening!
Follow Julie MacLellan on Twitter @juliemaclellan.
Email Julie, [email protected]
