Four new faces fill spots left wide open by incumbent departures

Here are four wards sending brand new faces to city hall after the incumbents decided not to run.

Scott Gillinghamin St. James-Brooklands

In St. James-Brooklands, Scott Gillingham won the race to fill the seat left vacant by Scott Fielding, who will run for the Progressive Conservatives in the next provincial election.

Gillingham, an ordained minister, helped launch a Winnipeg Harvest food bank in west Winnipeg, which serves 60 families every two weeks.

He won with 44 per cent of the votes, beating out three other challengers.

"I'm a little bit nervous, but really I'm excited," he said. "I'm anticipating a learning curve. I look forward to working with the others. I'm looking forward to serving the community."

Janice Lukes in St. Norbert

In St. Norbert, Janice Lukes was elected, filling the spot left by Justin Swandel.

Lukes, an entrepreneur and fundraiser for community development projects, won by more than 4,000 votes over main challenger Sachit Mehra.

She said she's looking forward to meeting her new council colleagues.

"I hope that we set out to develop a lot of good governance practices and I really hope that we restore a sense of pride in our city."

Marty Morantz in Charleswood-Tuxedo

Paula Havixbeck's former seat in Charleswood-Tuxedo will be filled by Marty Morantz, a businessperson and lawyer, who also ran as Progressive Conservative candidate in the 2011 provincial election in River Heights.

"We worked very hard since the end of July," he said. "We've been knocking on doors, five, six hours a day, making phone calls, talking to people finding out what's on their minds. And the hard work paid off tonight."

Mathieu Allard, St. Boniface

In St. Boniface, newcomer Mathieu Allard didn't waste time giving his victory speech after early results put him in a commanding lead. Former Coun. Dan Vandal left the seat open when he decided to run for the federal Liberals.

Allard, Vandal's former executive assistant, took 73 per cent of the vote to represent Winnipeg's French quarter.

"St. Boniface has given me all that I have and now it's time to give back to St. Boniface," he said. "And I plan to start doing that as soon as I possibly can."