Jon Lefebure will serve another term as mayor of North Cowichan.
Preliminary results reveal a tight race. Lefebure came out on top with 3,234 votes, ahead of John Koury, a current councillor, with 3,018 votes and Damir Wallener, who received 1,411 votes.
Lefebure was a councillor from 1999 to 2002 and then served as mayor for six years, starting in 2002. After a three-year hiatus, he was elected as mayor again in 2011.
In the race for council, newcomer Rob Douglas earned the most votes, receiving 3,466. Former mayor Tom Walker received 3,391 votes, and incumbent Al Siebring received 3,053 votes. Incumbent Kate Marsh will also be on council with 2,987 votes, and there will be two more new faces — Maeve Maguire, who received 2,485 votes, and Joyce Behnsen, who earned 2,277 votes.
The other candidates for council were Paul Fletcher (2,096 votes), Greg Robson (2,078), Dave Haywood (1,981), Ron Waller (1,729), Jenni Capps (1,662), Lura McCallum (1,543), George Gates (1,514), Jim Fane (1,488), Nick Caumanns (1,481), Peggy Bran (1,134), Jagtar Singh Mann (1,120), Heather Campbell (1,008), Laurie Thomson (980) and Jeffrey Motley (379).
Voters supported the idea of an amalgamation study with Duncan, with 4,446 residents voting yes in a referendum and 2,065 voting no.
Voter turnout was about 33 per cent, up from 32 per cent in 2011.
For more information, visit North Cowichan’s website.
