It's a case of some old and some new for St. Albert's city council.
Incumbent Mayor Nolan Crouse swept to victory over his lone challenger, political newcomer Shelley Biermanski, but only two incumbent councillors survived the cut.
Crouse captured 10,778 votes to Biermanski's 4,955.
Crouse was happy in victory but said there was a message in the fact that nearly 5,000 people felt he wasn't doing a good job, coupled with the shift toward newcomers on council.
“It was an entire message that incumbents are not quite on,” he said.
Biermanski said her results were about what she was expecting.
“I'm not happy, of course,” she said. “I just wish it could have been somebody stronger who could have knocked Crouse out.”
Among council candidates, newcomers Cathy Heron, Cam MacKay, Malcolm Parker captured the top three spots, with Heron earning 9,904 votes, MacKay 7,565 and Parker 7,030. Incumbent Len Bracko came next with 6,590, followed by Wes Brodhead with 6,467 and Roger Lemieux with 6,176.
Bracko and Lemieux were the only incumbents to make the cut as James Burrows and Gareth Jones were both ousted.
Heron said she was experiencing a wave of emotions.
“Overjoyed. I'm so excited right now,” she said. “I didn't think I'd come in first.”
She felt she had a strong base of support that ranked her as their first but also ran a non-confrontational campaign that likely had other voters rank her third or fourth.
Cam MacKay was low-key about earning the second-most votes among council candidates.
“I feel pretty good and I feel glad for all the people that I represent,” he said. “I'm very happy but also a lot of responsibility.
He said he was surprised to have ranked so highly.
“Yeah, but funny things happen when you go out and talk to the average person,” he said.
Brodhead said he was exhilarated and honoured.
“My heart hasn't stopped pounding yet,” he said.
Burrows said he wouldn't ask for a recount despite losing the last seat to Lemieux by just 14 votes.
He said he was surprised by the results and should have campaigned harder in the last two weeks.
“Obviously I'm disappointed but the voters are never wrong,” Burrows said. “I'm very proud of my last nine years.”
