While there were tight races in some northern B.C. cities, it was largely a night of incumbents keeping their seats.
Whether by vote or acclamation, cities like Williams Lake, Vanderhoof and Smithers remained status quo.
In Williams Lake, Mayor Walt Cobb has fought wildfires year after year and on Oct. 2o, he also beat second-place Surinderpal Rathor with 1,843 votes to Rathor’s 1,177.
Cobbs’ campaign targeted a lack of affordable housing in the city, as well as its poor air quality.
Although final results aren’t yet in, incumbent Mayor Philip Germuth has an overwhelming percentage of the votes for mayor in Kitimat.
In Burns Lake, Dolores Funk won over incumbent Albert Gerow with nearly 100 more votes and in Cache Creek Santo Talarico won with 47 per cent of the vote.
Vanderhoof saw incumbent Gerry Thiessen beat out newcomer Justus Benckhuysen with nearly double the votes.
In Barriere, Ward Stamer won over Mike Fennell and in Smithers, incumbent Taylor Bachrach beat out Randy Bell.
In Ashcroft, former councillor Barbara Roden won the mayor’s spot.
However, there were some highlights: Fraser Lake elected their first female mayor with Sarrah Storey. Including Storey, the community has a majority-women council for the first time ever.
But across the board, it was incumbents who claimed mayor’s seats across northern B.C.
In Quesnel, Bob Simpson was back for his last term, while in Houston, Shane Brienen is once again in the mayor’s seat.
Over in Haida Gwaii, Port Clements saw Douglas Daugert acclaimed as mayor.
Prince Rupert will keep Mayor Lee Brain for another four years.
