edmonton election 2007: the morning after.

I am a little sore after a night of celebrating Don Iveson's victory in Ward 5, but I would like to congratulate all the candidates and their campaign teams for their hard work.

Here are some thoughts on last night's results...

Mayor: Stephen Mandel received a much lesser than expected second mandate of 65% (compared to predictions of 80%), leaving last-minute candidate Don Koziak and his Core Values with the 25% anti-Mandel vote. Also, marijuana enthusiast Dave Dowling actually placed third...

Ward 1 - Councillors Linda Sloan and Karen Leibovici road the easy train to victory last night placing +8,000 votes ahead of challenger Andrew Knack.

Ward 2 - Kim Krushell and Ron Hayter were also easily re-elected (Hayter for his 11th term).

Ward 3 - With the retirement of Councillor Janice Melnychuk, both conservative Tony Caterina and progressive Harvey Voogd fought hard for the Ward 3 seat. Caterina prevailed. Ed Gibbons was re-elected.

Ward 4 - In a very close three-way race, Jane Batty, Ben Henderson, and Lewis Cardinal duked it out in this hot Ward race. Batty placed first with Henderson and Cardinal placing incredibly close to each other in second and third place. Ward 4 will now be represented by Jane Batty and Ben Henderson.

Ward 5 - The story of the night was in Ward 5, where my friend and candidate of choice Don Iveson pwned incumbent-Councillor Mike Nickel.

Don and his team campaigned hard using solid traditional campaigning techniques with a mix of online communication tools (such as a solid website, blogs, Google ads, and YouTube videos) and presented a solid platform (using full-sentences, rather than vague bullet points).

Having knocked on many doors for Don in Ward 5 over the summer and fall, it wasn't hard to sense an appetite for change.

Don Iveson's election in Ward 5 proved that incumbency isn't the all protecting shield that some pundits, such as Jim Lightbody, would preach.

Don also placed not too far behind incumbent-Councillor Bryan Anderson.

Needless to say, I am very proud of my new representation on Edmonton City Council!

I was also live-blogging from the Don Iveson victory party.

Ward 6 - The dogfight between Amarjeet Sohi and Chinwe Okelu ended in a tight victory for Mr. Sohi! Both were strong candidates and I think Ward 6 will do well with Sohi as their Councillor. Incumbent Dave Thiele was also re-elected.

Turnout - Was low.

Next Post: What does this means for Edmonton, City Council, and the future?