Former city councillor and MLA Chuck Puchmayr will reclaim his seat on city council, while longtime councillor Bob Osterman has suffered his first electoral defeat in more than two decades.
Incumbent councillor Jonathan Cote topped the polls for the second consecutive election with 6,481 votes.
Puchmayr, who had served on council from 1996 to 2005 and as MLA from 2005 to 2009, placed second in the polls with 5,802 votes.
Also elected to council were incumbents Jaimie McEvoy (5,505 votes), Lorrie Williams (5,385), Bill Harper (4,699) and Betty McIntosh (4,598).
"My thanks to my nominators, my arm twisters. Thanks to Amber, especially Amber," said Puchmayr of his longtime partner. "What she has endured over the years of me being in politics is unbelievable."
Puchmayr retired from politics in 2009 to deal with health issues. He received a life-saving liver transplant in January 2009.
Former city councillor Calvin Donnelly placed seventh in the council race, while incumbent Bob Osterman placed eighth, which cost him the council seat he's held for 15 years.
Donnelly said he knew it would be tough to get re-elected with Puchmayr in the mix, but he campaigned hard.
"He's a spoiler," he said about Puchmayr.
Williams said the election result was "a great night for people who are progressive" and care about issues like affordable housing and homelessness.
With the exception of McIntosh, all of the candidates elected to city council were endorsed by the New Westminster District and Labour Council and/or MLA Dawn Black and MPs Peter Julian and Fin Donnelly.
Cote said the election results show that they connected with voters and the messages they were conveying about issues like parks amenities.
"Critics will find something to criticize," McEvoy said. "The election results will show the citizens saw through some of the claims being made."
While McIntosh received some support from unions, she wasn't part of the labour-endorsed slate.
"It's difficult in this city if you are not on the district labour council slate," she said. "Being an independent is very difficult."
McIntosh believes her pres-ence at community events and her "community walks" helped her retain her council seat.
"I can only say one thing - special interests' money talks again," said John Ashdown, a Voice New Westminster candidate. "It was really big money this time."
Trailing behind those elected to council's six positions were: Donnelly (3,774); Osterman (3,360); Susan Wandell (3,171); John Ashdown (2,436); Gavin Palmer (2,355); David Noshad (2,176); James Bell (1,164); Vladimir Krasnogor (1,098); Gerry Liu (1,071); Harp Sihota (905); and Paul Mulangu (693).
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