Edmonton’s north side sent a clear message of discontent to city hall Monday – with early results showing that incumbent Dave Loken could be sent packing from Ward 3 and a new northeast Ward 4 candidate promising to put its communities first.



If that early trend holds, it appears military reserve officer Jon Dziadyk in Ward 3 and Indigenous artist Aaron Paquette in Ward 4 will join Mayor Don Iveson on council. He was re-elected with a huge majority for his second term.



Two conservative-leaning candidates will represent the suburban southwest. Former provincial conservative staffer Sarah Hamilton and engineer Tim Cartmell were both elected in wards 5 and 9.



“I didn’t foresee it for councillor Loken at all. We’ve seen the last few polls on Tony Catarina, but that surprises me about Ward 3,” said Bev Esslinger, who won her own re-election easily in the northwest Ward 2.



In Ward 7, northeast of downtown, Caterina also struggled early on, with challenger Kris Andreychuk leading in the polls at one point, but Caterina held a slim margin as votes continued be tallied.



With 181 of 249 polls reporting, Iveson took 72 per cent of the vote, after a campaign where he promised to make the economy his first priority, planning for 1 million people and transforming the city with transit and pockets of higher density infill.



“We never took this for granted, that’s not our style,” he said, after giving a victory speech to a crowd of upbeat supporters shortly after 9 p.m. “I’m grateful to Edmontonians for their continued confidence.”



He quashed any rumours of provincial or federal political aspirations in the future. “Let me unequivocally say I am hear for the next four years,” he said.



Iveson acknowledged public divisions on issues such as bike lanes, which was a point of contention during his campaign. “People still have questions about a number of things, from infrastructure to bike lanes to things we can do better at City Hall.”



Iveson ran against 12 other challengers. Don Koziak came in a distant second, with Steve Shewchuk and Fahad Mughal following early in the evening.



Even mystery candidate Henry Mak pulled in more than 1,000 votes. He didn’t give any interviews and sent his official agent to speak at two mayoral forums instead.



Iveson bettered his performance from 2013, when he won with 62 per cent of the vote.



Incumbents Andrew Knack, Scott McKeen, Ben Henderson, Michael Walters, Mike Nickel and Moe Banga all won re-election handily.



Dziadyk campaigned on lower taxes, less downtown spending and stronger northeast communities. He’s an urban planner and an author.



“I’m excited. I’m happy. I’m not overly surprised, but I’m humbled. The people have spoken,” Dziadyk said Monday night as results showed him in the lead. He held nearly 30 per cent of the vote versus Loken’s 25 per cent with 14 of 19 polls reporting.



“I’m ready for the job. It’s clear that on the north side, people feel like they’ve been neglected for a while,” he said.



Paquette ran on a platform of bringing more jobs and services to the northeast, saying that corner of the city has been forgotten. He said council favoured projects in the downtown and south side.



Ward 4 had no incumbent after Ed Gibbons retired. Rocco Caterina, son of long time councillor Tony Caterina, was in second place with 17 of 21 polls reporting.



“As well as you think you did, somebody’s got to win, somebody’s got to lose,” said Rocco Caterina. “Aaron did have a good campaign team, he had a good machine behind him….we’ll see what happens.”



In the two other open wards, Cartmell and Hamilton both held what appeared to be insurmountable leads even with a handful of polls yet to report.



Hamilton had 36 per cent of the vote with 16 of 19 polls reporting.



“I promised the residents of Ward 5 I’d get them a rec centre and I’ll be working with councillor (Andrew) Knack to make sure we get that built,” she said.



“I’ve been a strong proponent for smartly built LRT and I’m going to be making sure whatever we invest in the west end is an asset to our community. “



Cartmell was at 41 per cent, 15 of 19 polls reporting, when he gave his victory speech. “We’ve been really championing the 40 Avenue overpass at Terwillegar Drive,” he said, promising to get right to work on the capital budget. “That is absolutely critical for this ward.”



He also promised to push for a full review of photo radar. “Our success really is a function of our team. We had a tremendous uptake of volunteer engagement,” he said.



Activists with Equal Voice Alberta North were hoping for at least one new female councillor so they are happy tonight.



They worked hard to get a solid slate of female candidates. But past nomination day, “you work within the confines of what’s possible and what’s likely,” said chairwoman Lana Cuthbertson, saying it’s really difficult to defeat an incumbent.



Hamilton will join Esslinger, which means two of the 13 council members are women.



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