Moose Jaw's mayoral incumbent wins, North Battleford's loses

Fraser Tolmie will remain mayor in Moose Jaw. The incumbent won 3,189 votes, or 55.06 per cent, in Monday's civic election, according to the unofficial results published on election night.

Candidate John Kot followed with 2,316 votes and Nancy Nash got 287. 

"I'm very happy with the results, but I'm very excited to roll up my sleeves and get back to work," Tolmie said Monday after the results came in.

"I feel like I am electioned-out, obviously with the provincial election just a couple of weeks ago, the election down south and then obviously our municipal election."

Around eight per cent of all eligible voters in Moose Jaw cast their votes early this year, the city said on its website.

Now that the election is done, the mayor-elect and three returning councillors will get to work with three newly elected city councillors. 

"We are going to be doing some governance training and then we're going to be getting to work on our city budget," Tolmie said.

Tolmie became mayor in 2016 and received some international attention during a good-natured 2019 battle with Norway over what place has the biggest moose statue. 

North Battleford

David Gillan is the mayor-elect of North Battleford.

Four years ago Ryan Bater was acclaimed as North Battleford's new mayor.

During the 2020 civic election, four candidates challenged Bater. Advanced polls results were available shortly after polls closed, with candidate David Gillan leading the race. Eventually he defeated Bater by a 210-vote margin.

"I have no hard feelings whatsoever, and I wish the new council success," said Bater.

He offered his assistance to the new mayor-elect, he said.

"I do care about the transition. I care about the future of our city. And so if I can be of service, I'm willing to do that." 

After his defeat, Bater will focus on his family and his job as executive director with Destination Battlefords. 

"I became a father during this term. So I became mayor in November and I became a dad in June in 2017 — two life-changing events. I will be able to devote more time to my family and to my son, and that's a good thing."

New mayor-elect Gillan has been working for the town of Battleford as finance director and deputy CAO. From 2014 to 2017 he was finance director of North Battleford. One of the challenges he will have to face are the crime rates in the city. From 2016 to 2019, North Battleford's crime severity index climbed from 355.82 to 437.70, an increase of about 23 per cent.

According to the unofficial results, candidate Lois Laing received 74 votes, James Sieben 50, and Misa Nikolic 40.

New mayors in Humboldt, Yorkton and Warman

The cities of Humboldt, Warman and Yorkton all have new mayor-elects. 

Humboldt's Michael Behiel received 760 votes, according to returning officer Mike Ulriksen. Behiel defeated Lorne Pratchler (549) and Harley Bentley (130). 

Previous mayor Rob Muench did not run in this year's civic election. 

In a video posted on Facebook, Ulriksen acknowledged the increase in candidates running for office this year. Besides the three mayoral candidates, 14 citizens put their names forward for city council. 

Official results will be published on Tuesday afternoon.

With long-time mayor Yorkton Mayor Bob Maloney not running again this year, residents had the choice between Aaron Kienle and Mitch Hippsley. Hippsley became the winner of the night by an 86-vote margin. 

Citizens of Warman also had to say good-bye to their mayor. After serving for 14 years, Sheryl Spence did not put her name forward for another term. Gary Philipchuk was elected by acclamation. 

Incumbents successful in Estevan and Weyburn

Incumbent Roy Ludwig has been re-elected in Estevan with more than 70 per cent of the vote, according to unofficial results. This will be his third term as mayor.

After winning in 2016, Marcel Roy is once again mayor of Weyburn. He won 1,636 votes, compared to 1,246 for Nick Coroluick and 15 for Bruce Croft.

Postponed elections

The recent snowstorm has put a halt to civic elections in some Saskatchewan communities. Among them are Saskatoon, Swift Current and Maple Creek.

While Saskatoon pushed its election date to Friday, residents of Maple Creek will have to wait until Monday, November 16. 

According to the Swift Current Facebook page, the returning officer has postponed voting to Thursday and plans to declare the results on Monday, Nov. 16.