With the polls officially closed, unofficial results are showing five out of six current City councillors in Airdrie will return for another four-year term, while Heather Spearman has secured the final seat.
All five incumbents – Tina Petrow, Ron Chapman, Al Jones, Darrell Belyk, and Candice Kolson – earned enough votes to return for another term.
With all eight polls reporting, Petrow led the way in votes among council candidates, with 6,827. As the last polls were being tallied, Petrow said she was stunned to see the numbers, and is keen to get started on what will be her second term on council.
"It's so heartwarming to know that the efforts that you put in over the last four years, along with the efforts put in with my volunteers and I during the campaign were noticed, and people appreciate the work that we were doing," she said. "I'm just so thankful to the community right now."
First elected in 2017, Petrow said every day she has been an elected official, she has tried her best to put in the most effort she could.
"I always want to put in more than 100 per cent to the residents of this community," she said. "You don't know if people see it or not, you just do it because it's the right thing to do."
With another four years on the horizon, she wanted to first thank Airdrie residents who voted, and promised the next council will achieve a lot in the coming term.
"Get ready, we are going to do some amazing things," she said. "I've been listening to your feedback on the campaign trail, and I'm going to use that to try and shape my priorities for the next four years, and really hit the ground running for you guys."
Following Petrow, Ron Chapman was in second, with 5,161 votes, while Candice Kolson tallied 5,111, Al Jones received 4,502 and Darrel Belyk recorded 3,014.
Heather Spearman earned 4,937 votes, meaning she will replace Kelly Hegg, who did not run for re-election this year after spending 17 years on council.
In total, there were 18 candidates registered in this year's council election.
In the mayoral race, Peter Brown dominated the polls, securing 7,848 votes, according to unofficial results. Mayoral hopefuls Lindsey Coyle and Allan Hunter secured 2,382 votes and 1,592 votes respectively.
While current numbers are enough to declare the winners, official tallies aren't finalized until Friday.
According to airdrie.ca, Airdire has an eligible voter population of 54,373. This election, the voter turnout was at 22 per cent – two per cent less than the 2017 election.
The City of Airdrie offered a total of 36 hours of advanced voting in two locations, with voting spread over four days. According to its website, the advanced voter turnout this month was 3,165 voters – a 5.8 per cent turnout.
