John Hudak has won the byelection for Cranbrook city council.
Unofficial results have Hudak in the lead by a wide margin over four other challengers who were vying for a seat in council chambers.
Hudak won the vote with a total of 1,115, followed by Ron Miles with 518, Jordan Fiorentino with 428, Randy Tapp with 302, and William McKerrow with 62. The results will be officially declared on Wednesday, May 15, at city hall.
The byelection was triggered after Danielle Eaton resigned at the end of January for personal reasons.
Final 'preliminary’ results: ELECT – Hudak (1115); Miles (518); Fiorentino (428); Tapp (302); McKerrow (62) in #Cranbrook 2019 by-election. 2425 ballots cast. Declaration of official results to be made Wednesday May 15th. #CranbrookVotes
— City of Cranbrook (@cityofcranbrook) May 12, 2019
Hudak, a retired RCMP officer, put his name forward as a way to give back to the community, having volunteered for causes such as the B.C. 55+ Games and serving on the Kootenay Ice Green Bay Committee — a grassroots collection of local organizations and businesses that worked to grow the season ticket base.
Following his election victory, Hudak thanked his campaign team.
“This truly was a team win,” he said, at a gathering at the Heidout afterwards. “This isn’t about John Hudak, this is about the team that was built that supported John Hudak, and gave John Hudak the determination to go out every day.
“I didn’t take a lot of days off — I took one day off during the last month, and that couldn’t have happened without the team.”
While the next Cranbrook City Council meeting is on Monday, May 13, Hudak will have to wait until the subsequent meeting to be sworn in, pending the declaration of the official results.
“I will be glad to sit at the Council — I’m really excited to have the opportunity to sit at that table and work for the citizens of Cranbrook.”
READ: John Hudak announces run for Cranbrook city council
Based on the list of eligible voters from the 2018 general election, the byelection voter turnout was 16 per cent.
trevor.crawley@cranbrooktownsman.comLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
