Leamington will be under new leadership over the next four years.
Hilda MacDonald has been elected as the town’s new mayor, unseating incumbent John Paterson.
MacDonald, the current deputy mayor in Leamington, won with 4,341 votes to Paterson’s 2,533. Bruce Medcalf finished third in the mayoral race, garnering 333 votes.
The mayor-elect in Leamington says residents didn’t feel like they were being heard.
“I certainly felt that they were not being heard, that was the message they gave me and obviously they put their money where their mouth was so, this is great for me,” says MacDonald.
MacDonald is the first female mayor in Leamington since Grace McFarland was elected in 1951.
Veteran councilor Larry Verbeke won the most votes in the election with 5,081 to easily be elected as Leamington’s new deputy mayor. Verbeke beat challenger Dharmesh Patel.
Council will look largely familiar, with four returning councilors in Bill Dunn, John Hammond, Tim Wilkinson and John Jacobs. However, there will be one new face as Paul Tiessen wins election with 3,831 votes.
Trevor Jones and Heather Latam were the two nearest candidates to the final council spot held down by Jacobs with 2,582 and 2,555 votes respectively — just shy of the 2,992 votes for Jacobs.
