Brad Woodside wins Fredericton mayor's race

Brad Woodside easily won his eighth term as Fredericton's mayor on Monday night, defeating political newcomer Matthew Hayes in Monday's election.

Woodside won with 10,309 votes to the 6,072 of Hayes. All of the polls have now reported.

Hayes conceded in an interview with CBC News on Monday night.

Hayes said Woodside had strong support in the city.

"He is a well-loved mayor in this city," Hayes told CBC News.

"For me to knock off Brad Woodside, that would have been pretty incredible."

Woodside is the capital citys longest serving mayor and hes running for an eighth term in office. When the campaign started, Woodside said this would be his final term if he were successful.

Hayes, a sociology professor at St. Thomas University, ran a hard campaign to try and unseat the long-time mayor.

Woodside has publicly questioned why Hayes opted to run for mayor instead of running for a council spot first. Woodside has pointed to the citys strong financial shape as a reason to re-elect him.

Woodside had called on Hayes to clearly outline his history with the Occupy Fredericton movement.

Hayes has used his campaign to try and raise issues, such as improving public transit.

There are other interesting races in Fredericton to watch on Monday night.

Tight council races

Former Fredericton mayor Sandy DiGiacinto failed in his attempt to city politics, 11 years after losing his position as mayor.

DiGiacinto took over from Woodside when he decided to quit and run for the provincial Liberals in 1999.DiGiacinto ended up losing his position in 2001 to former provincial Progressive Conservative cabinet minister Les Hull.

DiGiacinto was running against a new face in municipal politics. There was a packed field in Frederictons Ward 10.

There are other newcomers to Fredericton's political scene.

Leah Levac easily defeated incumbent Stephen Kelly in a crowded field in the city's Ward 10.

Levac, an academic and an expert in public engagement, won with 646 votes to Kelly's 357.

Ryan Jacobson had 330 votes, Marven Grant had 279 votes and Courtney Mills had 121 votes.

In Ward 11, Kate Rogers had a healthy victory. She earned 705 votes to Tim Rattenbury's 245 votes and Misty McLaughlin's 238 votes.

The new Fredericton council will include:

• Brad Woodside, mayor
• Dan Keenan, Ward 1
• Bruce Grandy, Ward 2
• Mike O'Brien, Ward 3
• Eric Megarity, Ward 4
• Steven Hicks, Ward 5
• Marilyn Kerton, Ward 6
• Scott McConaghy, Ward 7
• Greg Ericson, Ward 8
• Stephen Chase, Ward 9
• Leah Levac, Ward 10
• Kate Rogers, Ward 11
• David Kelly, Ward 12