Cecil Clarke re-elected as mayor of Cape Breton Regional Municipality

Cecil Clarke has retained the mayor's seat in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality.

In a rematch of the 2012 election, Clarke bested challenger Rankin MacSween, with 22,250 votes to MacSween's 20,911.

Clarke told CBC News he was grateful for the win. He thanked voters "for the privilege of serving" the municipality.

"We have a lot of tough issues and a big job ahead and I'm up for the task."

MacSween said he felt all along it would be a close race and remained hopeful up the very end.

"Am I disappointed? Yes. But it was an exciting two months. I can't find words to explain to you the privilegeit was to run."

In the council seats:

District 1: Sydney Mines-Florence-Little Pond-Alder Point

Clarence Prince held his seat with 1,982 votes, narrowly topping Gordon MacDonald (1,675 votes) and Daniel 'Duke' Pero (388).

District 2: North Sydney-Point Aconi-Bras d'Or

In what could be a likely candidate for a recount, Earlene MacMullin topped Lloyd Wilkie, 985 votes to 980. Also running were Bill MacDonald (465 votes), Wally March (135), Diane Power (966) and Clayton Smith (663).

MacMullin, who joins District 8's Amanda McDougall and District 11's Kendra Coombes as the only women on Cape Breton regional council, will likely provide some diverse debate on municipal issues.

MacMullin, of North Sydney, was a vocal opponent to the sale of Archibald's Wharf to Canadian Maritime Engineering and she maintained the process was done without proper public consultation.

District 3: Upper North Sydney-Leitches Creek-Boisdale-Grand Narrows

Esmond 'Blue' Marshall will replace Mae Rowe, who did not reoffer. Marshall, with 1,189 votes, bested Jim Clark (546), Andre Desjardins Jr. (120), Cyril MacDonald (689), Michael MacNeil (177) and Tom Vickers (584).

District 4: Westmount-Coxhealth-Sydney River

Steve Gillespie is another new face on council, replacing Claire Detheridge who also did not reoffer. Gillespie (1,325 votes) topped Richard Fogarty (334), Dave LeBlanc (691), Darlene Morrison (745) and Darrell Wilson (702).

District 5: Downtown Sydney-Membertou

Eldon MacDonald held his seat with 1,530 votes. He topped Nadine Bernard (263 votes), Nigel Kearns (313), Shawn Lesnick (408) and Tom Wilson (839).

District 6: Sydney-Ashby-Grand Lake Road-Cottage Road

Ray Paruch retained his seat with 2,411 votes, besting Roberta Lynch (862) and Paul Theriault (331).

District 7: Howie Centre-East Bay-Mira Road

Ivan Doncaster was re-elected with 1,767 votes, topping Robert MacNeill (924) and Joe Ward (525).

District 8: Glace Bay-Donkin-Albert Bridge

Amanda McDougall unseated Kevin Saccary with 1,576 votes to Saccary's 1,521.

McDougall, 33, said her goal is to make sure residents are informed of what's happening.

"We have to all be on the same playing field," she told CBC News. "So there's going to be a lot, a lot of transparency that's demanded, I'm sure."

McDougall said the close result for mayor means council needs to take a hard look at both platforms.

"That is almost a 50/50 split. So we know that some things aren't working right. We have to amend that. I think we're going to have a stronger council right now with a very diverse voice and we can incorporate what Rankin was pushing in his campaign along with Mayor Clarke and find some sort of happy medium with it all."

District 9: Glace Bay-Reserve Mines

George MacDonald was returned to council with 1,579 votes, besting Lois MacDougall (203), Steven James MacNeil (575), Clarence Routledge (603) and Seward Bonaparte (515).

District 10: Gardiner Mines-Dominion

Darren Bruckschwaiger was elected with 2,426 votes, topping Brian Shaw (1,266) and former MLA Dave Wilson (669).

Wilson had high hopes of a political comeback after he was jailed in 2012 for committing fraud in an expense scandal that netted a number of other MLAs as well.

District 11: New Waterford-Scotchtown-Lingan

Kendra Coombes unseated Lowell Cormier. Coombes received 2,106 votes to Cormier's 1,697.

Coombes told CBC News she decided to run because of what she saw as a lack of leadership in the community.

"I felt I'd put my name forward because I think I can get it done," she said.

"I saw that this council didn't really debate the issues too much. I plan to debate the issues because I find within debate you find the truth."

District 12: Whitney Pier-Victoria Mines

Voters returned Jim MacLeod to office. His 1,460 votes bested Kim Sheppard's 1,181 and Tera Camus's 223.