Charlie McDonald elected next mayor of Kawartha Lakes

Kawartha Lakes Weekly will be updating this post as results come in this evening. Full results are anticipated to be in between 9-9:30 p.m.

Unofficial results are as follows:

Mayor – Charlie McDonald (51.4 per cent of votes)

Ward 1 – Brian Bartley (32.6 per cent of votes)

Ward 2 – Terry Blackmore (67.3 per cent of votes)

Ward 3 –  Mike Perry (89.6 per cent of votes)

Ward 4 – Guru Bhat (58.8 per cent of votes)

Ward 5 – Mark Doble (62.9 per cent of votes)

Ward 6 – Jasmine Marshall (81.9 per cent of votes)

Ward 7 – Eric Smeaton (65.9 per cent of votes)

Ward 8 – Tom Hickey (69.2 per cent of votes)

 

At his election party, McDonald said he was overwhelmed and it hadn’t yet sunk in that he was elected as mayor. “Everyone ran a great campaign, and I respect everybody who ran.”

The event room at the Best Western was full of his supporters and campaign team. “The volunteers worked so hard,” McDonald said, noting that without them he wouldn’t have been elected.

“I’m ready to get to work,” McDonald said.

Outgoing mayor, Doug Elmslie said he was happy with the results. “The people have chosen, and I think they’ve chosen wisely.”

Incumbent Mark Doble said he was honoured to be re-elected. “The good people of Ward 5 gave me the opportunity (to be on council again), and I’ll be forever grateful.”

Doble said being re-elected showed him that his constituents enjoyed the work he did after being elected in a Ward 5 by-election last April. “I was determined to run a positive campaign, and will continue to put in the hard work.”

Tom Hickey told Kawartha Lakes Weekly he was in a daze after he won. “I had no idea who would win up until the end.”

Guru Bhat brought his family out to see the results. “This is not my win; it’s a win for the community. I hope to lift Ward 4 up and give residents the respect and value they deserve.”

Mathew Flynn finished fourth in the mayoral race. “I’d like to congratulate Charlie on his well-deserved victory. To Ron, Doug and Dave; it was an honour to be running this race with each and every one of you. I very much would like to thank everyone who supported me along the way with my campaign  and say how much it truly meant to me.”

Flynn finished by saying residents can expect to see him run again in four years.

For full election results go to kawarthalakes.ca/ElectionResults.