All incumbent councillors re-elected in Calgary election - Action News
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All incumbent councillors re-elected in Calgary election

There were tense moments for some, but every incumbent city councillor in Calgary's 2017 election has won re-election.

CBC News projects all 10 sitting councillors will continue to represent their wards

Gian-Carlo Carra, second from the left, takes a victory photo with campaign team members in Calgary's Inglewood community. (Sarah Lawrynuik/CBC)

There were tense moments for some, but every incumbent city councillor in Calgary's 2017 electionhas won re-election.

CBC News is projecting the 10incumbents will hold on to theircouncil seats (click on a candidate's name to jump to a detailed description of their vote totals):

(* Ray Jones previously represented Ward 5 but ran in Ward 10, which includes much of the same territory as his previous constituency after the city remapped the ward boundaries.)

Only four new faces will be seated around the council table all of them coming from wards with no incumbent.

CBC News projects the following winners in those wards:

Ward 1

Ward Sutherland held off a challenge from rival Coral Bliss Taylor in a race that ended up being closer than many anticipated a week ago.

Things suddenly changed last Wednesday night at an all-candidates forum, when Sutherlandmade a comment about "Johnny Jew from New York" while discussing the types of people who are hired under the city's public art policy.

Sutherland claims he said "Johnny Choo" and was referencing the Malaysian-born shoe designer who lives in the United Kingdom.

The incumbent explained that he had "New York" in his mind because of an episode of Sex And The City that he had watched that included a reference to Choo.

The candidates running in Ward 1, clockwise from top left, are: Chris Blatch, Ward Sutherland, Coral Bliss Taylor, Cole Christensen and Cam Khan. (City of Calgary)

Choo does not do public art installations like those commissioned by the City of Calgary.

Sutherland's rivals weren't buying his explanation and said there was little doubt in their minds that he said "Johnny Jew," especially given the high-quality recording of the forum that was broadcast online.

Sutherland won with14,336 votes. His closest rival,Bliss Taylor, got10,601 votes.

Ward 2

Joe Maglioccawas widely expected to win a second term in this northwest ward, but his margin of victory wasn't as large as many might have thought before the vote.

The Ward 2 candidates, clockwise from top left, are: Joe Magliocca, George Georgeou, Christopher Maitland and Jennifer Wyness. (City of Calgary)

The incumbent had 11,828 votes to his nearest challenger Jennifer Wyness's 8,677 in the final tally.

Christopher Maitland was in third place with 2,351votes, while George Georgeou had 1,091 votes.

Ward 3

Jyoti Gondek successfully stepped up as a candidate after serving as campaign manager for Jim Stevenson, the previous councillor for Ward 3, who did not seek re-election this time around.

The business professor and former citizen member of the Calgary Planning Commission campaigned on her understanding of "complex urban issues" and promise to identify "practical, proven ideas that can be adapted and successfully implemented in Calgary."

She earned 7,745 votes, according to thefinal count.

The candidates in Ward 3, clockwise from top left, are: Jyoti Gondek, Ian McAnerin, Connie Hamilton and Jun Lin. (City of Calgary)

The next closest candidate was Ian McAnerin with 4,867 votes, followed by Jun Lin with4,747votes. Connie Hamilton got1,096 votes.

Ward 4

Sean Chu and challenger Greg Miller swapped leads as results came in throughout the night, but ultimately the incumbent came out ahead.

Chu took16,327 votes to Miller's 13,965.

Blair Berdusco came a distant third, with 2,875 votes.

The candidates in Ward 4, clockwise from top left, are: Sean Chu, Greg Miller, Srinivas Ganti and Blair Berdusco. (City of Calgary)

Miller put an unusually long and dedicated effort into the race, officially launching his campaign to unseat Chunearly two years ago, after unofficially campaigning for months before that.

He had positioned himself as the antidote to Chu, who has become a polarizing figure at city hall, with a campaign slogan of "Ward 4 deserves more."

Chu,meanwhile, stuck to what worked for him in the 2013 election, calling for lower taxes and "common sense" approaches to decision-making at city hall.

Ward 5

George Chahal emerged as the hands-down winner in this ward, which used to be the stronghold of Coun. Ray Jones but underwent a major shift in boundaries and the electoral redistricting.

Chahal, who lost by a mere 33 votes to Jim Stevenson in Ward 3 in the 2007 election, sailed to victory in Ward 5on Monday night.

The candidates in Ward 5, clockwise from top left, are: Aryan Sadat, Balraj Nijjar, Hirde Jassal, Sarbdeep Baidwan, George Chahal and Tudor Dinca. (City of Calgary)

He earned 6,608 votes besting hisnearest challenger, Aryan Sadat, by 2,849 votes.

Preet Baidwangot2,332 votes.

Ward 6

This race was wide open after incumbent Richard Pootmansopted not to run again, and Jeff Davison quickly emerged as the winner as ballots were counted.

He amassed 13,735 votes, more than doubling his nearest rival in a field of eight candidates.

Esmahan Razavi picked up 6,605 votes for adistant second-place showing,while Sean Yost was in third with 2,507 votes.

The candidates in Ward 6, clockwise from top left, are: Alex Columbos, Esmahan Razavi, Grace Nelson, Jeff Davison, Steve Turner, Sean Yost, Sanjeev Kad and Jeff Brownridge. (City of Calgary)

Davison said he's looking forward to getting down to work.

"Ward 6 has a lot of infrastructure issues, and really that's going to be our biggest challenge going forward," he said early Tuesday morning, once the results were clear.

"I think a lot of those infrastructure issues have led to even trickle down affect of safety in certain communities. That's the number one concern people have around here."

Ward 7

Druh Farrell was looking likely to win although she was still embroiled in the closest race, well after all the others had been decided.

But by early Tuesday morning, the incumbent had won, with9,753 votes to challenger Brent Alexander's 8,916.

The candidates in Ward 7, clockwise from top left, are: Druh Farrell, Brent Alexander, Dean Brawn, Marek Hejduk and Margot Aftergood. (City of Calgary / Hejduk campaign)

Dean Brawn was in third place with 2,882 votes while Margot Aftergood was fourth with 1,765.

Farrel earned 41 per cent of the vote, an improvement over the 37 per cent she won with in the 2013 election.

Ward 8

Evan Woolley, who defeated incumbent John Mar in the 2013 election, handily fended off all challengers as the incumbent in Ward 8.

Woolley took 15,838 votes while rivalChris Davis was the choice of 8,844 voters.

The candidates in Ward 8, clockwise from top left, are: Evan Woolley, Chris Davis, Karla Charest and Carter Thomson. (City of Calgary / Charest campaign)

Karla Charest had 1,839 votes while Carter Thomson, a former mayoral candidate, got657.

Davis, a land-development lawyer and self-described "tax warrior," said during the campaign that he wants to increase transparency at city hall, which he describedas too secretive.

Woolley, meanwhile, accused his opponent of being too secretivehimself, as Davis refusedto release a list of his campaign donors prior to the election, as Woolley had voluntarily done.

Ward 9

Gian-CarloCarrasweated it out but ultimately emerged victorious after a serious challenge from rival Cheryl Link.

Link, who owns Mountain Modern Timberframes, had campaigned on a platform to "end the tax hikes" at city hall and pledged tobe a "pro-business" politician.

She led Carraas early results came in but, as the night wore on, the incumbent opened up a larger and larger lead.

Incumbent Gian-Carlo Carra, centre, is facing six challengers in Ward 9. Clockwise from top left, they are: Trevor Buckler, Boss Madimba, Cheryl Link, Cesar Saavedra, David Metcalfe and Omar M'keyo. (City of Calgary)

In the end, Carra took 9760 votes to Link's 8,065.

Trevor Bucklersecured third place with 1,126 votes.

Carra said he recognizes he is a "very polarizing figure" and knew he was in for a tough fight but "it was a lot closer than we thought."

"We had to work very hard and we had to lead with positivity and we had to lead with good policy," he said of his win.

Ward 10

Ray Jones, running in a new ward that includes many of his old voters, cruised to another victory but with a smaller margin than in past wins.

While he had sewn up the last couple of elections in Ward 5 with between 62 and 80 per cent of the vote, he picked up just 35.5per cent of the ballots cast in Ward 10 this time around.

The candidates in Ward 10, from left to right and top to bottom, are: Ray Jones, Najeeb Butt, Gar Gar, Faith Greaves, Salimah Kassam, Issa Mosa, Hermann Muller, Kamilla Prasad, Michelle Robinson, David Winkler and Numan Elhussein. (City of Calgary / Numan Elhussein / Facebook)

Still, in a crowded field of 11 candidates, Jones' 7,240 votes were enough to secure a win.

David Winkler came insecond place with 5,512 votes while Salimah Kassam placedthird with 2,126.

Ward 11

Jeromy Farkas, who officially launched his campaign in March 2016 but had been laying the groundwork well before that, emerged as the winner inthis ward with no incumbent.

Brian Pincottannounced in February that he wouldn't seek re-election, clearing the way for Farkas, who had a significant head-start on other rivals.

The candidates in Ward 11, clockwise from top left, are: Robert Dickinson, Janet Eremenko, Jeromy Farkas, Keith Simmons and Linda Johnson. (City of Calgary)

Farkas collected13,169 votes, well ahead of nearest challenger Linda Johnson's 7,588.

Janet Eremenko got 6,889 votes while Robert Dickinson had 4,446.

Farkas, who ran on a campaign to hold the line on property taxes and put the southwest BRT project on hold pending a review from the new council, said he plans to reach out to the other winners before being sworn in next week.

"Well, council is a team, of course, right? It's a variety of perspectives and I know we all care very deeply about our city," Farkas said.

"And the election is over and its time to roll up our sleeves and get working for Calgarians."

Ward 12

Shane Keating cruised to victory in this southeastern ward.

Heearned 17,923 of the 24,622 votes cast.

The candidates in Ward 12, clockwise from top left, are: Teresa Hargreaves, Shane Keating, Mackenzie Quigley and Brad Cunningham. (City of Calgary / Quigley campaign)

Teresa Hargreaves came a distant second with 2,844 votes.

Brad Cunningham was third with 2,732.

Ward 13

Among a crowded field, Diane Colley-Urquhartwon a seventh term on council as the representative for this southwest ward.

The incumbent took 9,117 votes,ahead of nearest rival Mark Dyrholm, who got4,427.

Incumbent Diane Colley-Urquhart, centre, faced six challengers in Ward 13. Clockwise from top left, they are: Art Johnston, Adam Frisch, Sherrisa Celis, Kay Adeniyi, Adam Boechler and Mark Dyrholm. (City of Calgary)

Art Johnston was in third place with 3,747 votes.

It was a close race for fourth, with Sherrisa Celis picking up 2,959votes to Adam Boechler's 2,909.

Adam Frisch took2,732votes.

Ward 14

This was the most lopsided race of the election, as incumbent Peter Demong cruised to an easy win against just one challenger.

The candidates in Ward 14 are Peter Demong, left, and Kelash Kumar. (City of Calgary / Kumar campaign)

The incumbentlocked up 90 per cent of the 31,494 votes cast, taking28,430 votes.