Don Darling wins mayor's race in Saint John

Political newcomer Don Darling has been declared Saint John's new mayor in Monday'smunicipal election.

Darling defeated outgoingdeputymayor Shelley Rinehart, a veteranoutgoing councillor, a former councillor and a retireefor the top job in New Brunswick's largest city.

He led the race all night, finishing with a solid win8,139 votes, over Rinehart's6,812, according to Elections New Brunswick's unofficial results.

"We had a very solid plan," said Darling, a small business owner and consultant,who has spent the past 20 years working in the construction industry.

"We had a vision that I had in my campaign, called Grow SJ, Grow Saint John, and that's all we talked about, from thefirst day of the campaign till last Saturday night at 11:30 at night."

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Darlingbelieveshis message resonated with voters.

"The last couple of weeks I saw a real shift in momentum," he said.

"People were stopping their cars and coming across the street to say hello."

Darling, who says he grew up in poverty, living with his mother after his parents separated,also hopes to address poverty in the city by working with organizations to get at the root causes.

He sayshe's excited to get started andplans to call the city manager and clerk on Tuesday morning.

But he took time to celebratehis victoryMonday night with family, friends,and campaign volunteers at the Saint John Ale House, where Rinehart stopped by to offerher congratulations.

Rinehart, a business professor at the University of New Brunswick,says she's pleased with her campaign, despite the defeat.

"When you have a city that's struggling, you know, in an economy that's struggling, then sometimes people look for a change to see if that will make a difference," she said.

The other mayoral candidates included: outgoing councillor BillFarren(3,184), formercouncillorPatty Higgins (604), andHoward ArthurYeomans(213).

All seven council incumbents who sought re-election were successful.

It looks like incumbentCouncillorat large Shirley McAlarywill be the city's deputy mayor.

The other council members will include:

• Councillorat large: Gary Sullivan
• Ward 1: incumbent Greg Norton
• Ward 1:Blake Armstrong
• Ward 2: incumbent John MacKenzie
• Ward 2: Sean Casey
• Ward 3: incumbent Gerry Lowe
• Ward 3: incumbent Donna Reardon
• Ward 4: incumbent Ray Strowbridge
• Ward 4:incumbent David Merrithew

The race for the mayor's seat opened up in January when Mel Norton announced he would not be seeking a second term. Norton announced last weekthat he will run tobecome leader ofthe provincial Progressive Conservatives.

There are 50,362 eligible voters in the city, according to Elections New Brunswick.

Nancy Grant wins in Rothesay

In neighbouring Rothesay, Nancy Grant has been declared the town'snew mayor, with 2,424 votes, over outgoing councillor Pat Gallagher-Jette's 1,440,according to Election New Brunswick'sunofficial results.

Grant, who previously served asdeputy mayor, will be joined by seven councillors:

• IncubmentMatt Alexander
• IncumbentMiriam Wells
• TiffanyMackayFrench
• IncumbentBill N. McGuire
• Incumbent Peter Lewis
• GrantBrenan
• Don J.Shea

Rothesaymayor Bill Bishop decided not to re-offer. By the end of this term, he will bethe longest servingmunicipal politicianin New Brunswick with 44 years of service, including15 at the helm.

The town has8,766 eligible voters.

Gary Clark claims victory in Quispamsis

Quispamsisalso has a new mayor after Gary Clark edged out incumbent Murray Driscoll with 2,411 votes, compared to 2,150. Beth A. Fitzpatrick finished the night with 526 votes, according to the unofficial results.

Clark, a local businessman and a two-term councillor, will have plenty of familiar faces around the table with him. Six of the seven elected councillors are incumbents. Sean Luck is the only new face.

The other council members include:

• IncumbentLibby O'Hara
• IncumbentBeth Thompson
• IncumbentLisaM.Loughery
• IncumbentEmil T. Olsen
• IncumbentKirk Miller
• IncumbentJ. PierreRioux

There are 13,190 eligible voters in Quispamsis.