About 37 per cent of eligible voters in HRM turned out to elect a new regional council that looks a lot like the last one.
Because of the re-drawn boundaries, 15 of the 16 new districts were poised to be represented by returning council candidates.
In the end, 13 of those seats would be occupied by a familiar face.
“I think the people want experienced voices at the table,” said Coun. David Hendsbee, who finished almost 2,00 votes over his closest challenger in District 2. “They understand there are some big issues coming up, and they want a steady hand at the helm.”
The new boundary districts pitted veteran against veteran in four districts, including the new District 8, where Coun. Jennifer Watts defeated long-time downtown representative Dawn Sloane.
“I’m going to miss Dawn very much, and it’s unfortunate that’s the way the boundaries got redrawn,” she said. “But that’s part of the political process, being in that type of situation.”
A fierce battle between Jackie Barkhouse and Bill Karsten in District 3 saw Barkhouse finish ahead by just six votes.
Steven Streatch, Mary Wile, Sue Uteck and Peter Lund were also turfed from their seats in Districts 1, 7, 12 and 13, respectively, losing to Barry Dalrymple, newcomer Waye Mason, Reg Rankin and another newcomer, Matt Whitman.
List of elected councillors.
District 1 – Barry Dalrymple
District 2 – David Hendsbee
District 3 – Jackie Barkhouse
District 4 – Lorelei Nicoll
District 5 – Gloria McCluskey
District 6 – Darren Fisher
District 7 – Waye Mason
District 8 – Jennifer Watts
District 9 –Linda Mosher
District 10 – Russell Walker
District 11 – Steve Adams
District 12 – Reg Rankin
District 13 – Matt Whitman
District 14 – Brad Johns
District 15 – Steve Craig
District 16 – Tim Outhit
- Metro Halifax
