Steve Hicks is Fredericton, N.B.'s mayor-elect, Jenica Atwin concedes

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Steve Hicks is the mayor-elect of Fredericton after Jenica Atwin conceded defeat. Speaking at her watch party, Atwin said she congratulated the longtime councillor and thanked her supporters.

His successful run comes after serving four-terms as councillor for Ward 5, which largely represents the neighbourhood of Marysville.

In Woodstock, former mayor Jeff Wright unseated current Mayor Trina Jones by about 500 votes. 

In New Maryland, Coun. Alex Scholten beat longtime Mayor Judy E. Wilson-Shee, who had served three terms, by a mile. Scholten has 1,058 votes to Wilson-Shee’s 349.

Tracadie’s Clifford Robichaud unseated Mayor Denis Losier by over 1,000 votes. 

But some incumbents won, including Marc Thorne in Sussex, Dave Morrison in Hanwell, Bernard Thériault in Caraquet and Andrew Harvey in Carleton North, which includes Florenceville-Bristol. 

Even after the concession from Brian Murphy, Shawn Crossman is standing and refreshing the Elections N.B results page on a phone. He’s clearly anxious at the lack of final results. 

Meanwhile he is taking calls from various people congratulating him. 

Incumbent Coun. Paul Richard, re-elected today in Ward 4, has stopped by to congratulate Crossman. 

He hasn’t given a victory speech here as he awaits those final results. 

Saint John Mayor Donna Reardon says she is looking forward to serving again and ready to meet the moment.

“I'm grateful for the people who voted for me to put me back in this position,” she said, speaking to reporters after being re-elected.

“I just see so much opportunity for Saint John with the geopolitical climate that's happening right now … It's just so much potential for the city of Saint John. And I want to be part of the leadership as that goes forward.”

Candidate Barry Ogden conceded the race about an hour ago. Reardon leads with 7,168 votes to Ogden’s 5,938 and Blaine Harris’s 4,697 with just one tabulator left to count.

While Elections N.B. Still has one tabulator outstanding for Fredericton, Steve Hicks and his wife Angela Hicks, who won a council seat tonight in the Marysville ward that her husband previously represented, have arrived at the watch party. He’s giving a victory speech as results show him still with a healthy lead with just one tabulator uncounted.

“We have a lot of work ahead of us. We ran on a  platform of public safety and affordability and we have a lot of work to do,” Hicks said.

Atwin has not yet called him to concede.

An Elections N.B. Spokesperson said the outstanding tabulator machine was not transmitting the results and is being driven to a returning office. 

Hicks leads by about 1,800 votes with the one tabulator outstanding. 

Two prominent Charlotte County towns have new mayors.

Steven C. Backman, who is president of the Charlotte County Hospital Foundation, among other things, will be the new mayor of St. Stephen, handily winning over his competition. 

Longtime mayor Allan MacEachern, who has been on council since 2012 and mayor since 2016, chose not to re-offer.

The last council has faced challenges to grasp homelessness and a lack of affordable housing, both issues that will still be there as the new mayor and council are sworn in.

And in Saint Andrews, mayor-elect and former councillor Steve Neil won after a race that ended with a sombre tone. Kate Akagi, who has been serving as acting mayor since the resignation of former mayor Brad Henderson last year, died just weeks ago. While Akagi had been running in this election for council instead of mayor, her death meant Neil briefly became acting mayor. Neil won handily.

The last council faced public pushback over designs for the town’s wharf rehabilitation. As cost estimates climbed, the council cancelled the project last fall. But the town is beginning to look at new plans for the wharf, and this new council will have to jump headfirst into this issue.

Nearby in the county, incumbent mayors John D. Craig won in Eastern Charlotte, Bonnie H. Morse in Grand Manan and Harvey Matthews on Campobello Island. 

Shawn Crossman is Moncton's mayor-elect after the city's former mayor Brian Murphy conceded. 

The three-term councillor has represented the city's east end since 2012. That's an area his father also represented while serving on city council. 

Crossman is a self-employed entrepreneur.

Readers may recall he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2018. That's a blood cancer that develops in plasma cells. He's been in full remission. 

He's campaigned on tackling public safety concerns, saying property crime is getting out of control. 

Several municipalities elected new mayors tonight.

In Tantramar, Debbie Wiggins-Colwell, the current deputy mayor who was the mayor of Dorchester before amalgamation, won by about 600 votes. With Sackville being the larger town that formed the new municipality of Tantramar, having a mayor from Dorchester may give the village more representation on council. Outgoing mayor Andrew Black chose not to run again for mayor but ran for a council seat and lost.

And in Shediac, Patricia Bourque-Chevarie, a long-time councillor, won after previous mayor Roger Caissie didn’t run again. She is the first woman to serve as mayor of Shediac, which has seen large population growth in recent years.

In the province’s northern cities, two incumbent mayors held onto their seats. Eric Marquis won in Edmundston, and Kim Chamberlain in Bathurst.

In Campbellton, Michel Soucy, a former mayor of Atholville, beat Luc Couturier, who had served as acting mayor since the resignation of Jean-Guy Levesque in the fall.

The race has not yet been called by Elections N.B. In Miramichi’s five-way race for mayor, but Veronique Arseneault leads Shawn Power by over 1,200 votes with most votes counted.

The crowd is buzzing with optimism at the Steve Hicks watch party as results show him with about 53 per cent of the vote with just one tabulator left to count. His supporters are waiting for him to arrive any minute now.

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