Early voting trends
Some interesting trends are emerging in Halifax’s municipal election advance voting, according to report released by HRM Returning Officer Cathy Mellett …
Newly elected Halifax Mayor Mike Savage casts his vote.
Familiar faces: Halifax election results
By Trevor J. Adams | Oct 21, 2012Tags: election, HRM Votes, Mayor, mike savage, politics
Municipal election results are in and, as polls predicted, Mike Savage won the mayoral election by a large margin, taking 63,547 votes. Tom Martin’s campaign released several press releases claiming pre-election polls were over-stating Savage’s lead, but ultimately, the results proved the polls correct, with the only particularly close part of the race being between Martin (21,912) and Fred Connors (20.277) for second.
For the first time in more than a decade, Halifax has a new Mayor, although there’s not really a feeling a sweeping change. Savage ran a conservative campaign, and as a former MP, had broad centrist appeal. Other candidates painted him as the establishment man, which, true or not, obviously wasn’t a factor for voters. Halifax’s new Council, cut to 16 seats, will also have a familiar tinge. A few incumbent Councillors, like Dawn Sloane and Steve Streatch, lost. In one of the biggest surprises, Sue Uteck lost District 7 to businessman Waye Mason, who overcame her strong base by aggressively courting new voters. But many incumbent Councillors return to form a municipal government that, despite the many changes, shares many names with the last one. What do you think these results mean for Halifax?
- District 1 (Waverly-Fall River-Musquodobit Valley): Shrinking Halifax Council put veterans Barry Dalrymple and Steve Streatch in a heavyweight head-to-head race that Dalrymple wins by a relatively close margin.
- District 2 (Preston-Porters Lake-Eastern Shore): Veteran Councillor David Hensbee, a savvy campaigner, wins handily, with Gail McQuarrie and Laurie Cook well behind in a close race for second.
- District 3 (Dartmouth South-Eastern Passage): This was an incumbent slugfest. In unofficial election-night results, Jackie Barkhouse won by six votes. But when the returning officer released the official results, Karsten won. According to that count, he took 3,321 votes, while Jackie Barkhouse garnered 3,253. This one probably isn’t over yet.
- District 4 (Cole Harbour-Westphal): Lorleli Nicoll returns to Council, beating Angela Jones, who ran a truncated campaign after a legal debate about her eligibility to run.
- District 5 (Dartmouth Centre): With a divided field of six challengers, outspoken Dartmouth Councillor Gloria McCluskey probably didn’t lose much sleep in this race, re-elected by a broad margin.
- District 6 (Harbourview-Burnside-Dartmouth East): In another strong incumbent showing, Darren Fisher overcomes Jerry Pye.
- District 7 (Peninsula South-Downtown): Dawgfather ran a controversial, unconvential campaign, predicting a strong bloc of student voters would propel him past the other candidates. The students may have voted, but not for him. Businessman Waye Mason, who worked hard to connect with new voters and effectively used social media comes back after trailing early to beat incumbent Sue Uteck by 114 votes. Dawgfather finished a distant fourth behind Gerry Walsh.
- District 8 (Peninsula North): Always good for a quote, Dawn Sloane was a vocal and active member of Council, but she ran into a well organized campaign in fellow incumbent Jennifer Watts, who defeats her and Doug MacDonald by a wide margin.
- District 9 (Peninsula West-Armdale): Incumbent Linda Mosher, a strong constituency campaigner, returns to City Hall without really facing a serious threat from from the district’s other three candidates.
- District 10 (Birch Cove-Rockingham-Fairview): Occupy Nova Scotia organizer John Thibeau could have been a wild card in this district but in the end, Russell Walker wins with ease, with Thibeau falling third behind Kurt Bulger.
- District 11 (Spryfield-Sambro-Prospect Road): Despite no longer living in the district, Steve Adams returns to Council, largely riding on his longstanding popularity in Spryfield, where he lived for many years and still has strong roots.
- District 12 (Timberlea-Beechville-Clayton Park West): In another incumbent battle, Reg Rankin shrugs off the scandals of his last term to beat former Clayton Park representative Mary Wile.
- District 13 (Hammonds Plains-St. Margarets): In a surprising result, challenger Matt Whitman, perhaps driven by a strong social-media campaign, wins a close victory over incumbent Peter Lund.
- District 14 (Upper/Middle Sackville-Beaver Bank): In another vote for Halifax’s incumbents, Brad Johns handily fended off a challenge from Laurie Sauers.
- District 15 (Lower Sackville): Former provincial PC candidate Steve Craig easily beats four other candidates.
- District 16 (Bedford-Wen tworth): Popular Bedford incumbent Tim Outhit easily wards off a challenge from Mark Ward, riding on old-fashioned constituency work and dogged campaigning.
CLARIFICATION: The original version of this post said Jackie Barkhouse won District 3, as the unofficial election-night count indicated. The final official tally says, however, that Bill Karsten won the district. The post has been updated to reflect the change.
A sad result. Peninsula Halifax has two left-wing anti-development types, while some of the worst councillors from last time get re-elected: Dalrymple, Nicoll, Hendsbee, Walker. Add to that a slick backroom type as our new Mayor and we are in for 4 more years of despair.
This needs a re-edit. So many typos.
Who ever voted for R. Walker in District 10 seriously needs to have their head examined. Anyone off the street with half a heart beat would be of more use.
The author of this article should be more respectful of the way things are represenred. Think about how the people within the situation will feel. After trying so hard for weeks to get elected, if they don’t get it, they don’t need you to put them down even more.
Look, Keith, Halifax is not anti-development. This is a weird myth that I can assure you is untrue, especially having lived in other Canadian cities where NIMBYism is just as rampant.
We have Nova Scentre going up, the TD expansion, Espace, City Centre Atlantic, RBC Waterside, and a host of infill condos.
And there are a lot of approved developments that have simply not gotten going due to developers choosing not to build: the Roy building (though I strongly disagree with this one, since the Roy should be refurbished and preserved as-is), Twisted Sisters, and most famously, the 22-storey International Place office tower at the end of Granville (which I’d LOVE to see happen).