By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

Krog dominates mayoral race, two incumbents chosen to new-look Nanaimo Council

Oct 20, 2018 | 8:11 PM

NANAIMO — After four predominantly tumultuous years, Nanaimo voters turned out in record numbers to decisively select a new mayor and eight mostly new councillors.

Official preliminary results released late Saturday night show Nanaimo MLA Leonard Krog winning the mayoral race with 20,040 votes, handily defeating Don Hubbard who received 5,630 votes.

“This pretty substantial margin tells me I have a lot to work on, also a lot to deliver,” Krog told NanaimoNewsNOW as the initial results came in overwhelmingly in his favour. “On the one hand I’m thrilled but on the other, I’m not unconscious to the fact that expectations are very high. We need a community that works together and there’s a lot of work to be done.”

It was a record-breaking turnout, with 40.8 per cent of registered voters casting their ballots for an approximate total of 185,000 votes. In comparison, 34.1 per of registered voters made it to the polls for the 2014 election.

“For me, that is quite possibly more exciting than my victory,” Krog said. “The people in Nanaimo, when called upon, stepped up and voted in overwhelming numbers. This is a great night for the city of Nanaimo.”

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Rookie candidate Erin Hemmens led the councillor vote with 15,937.

“I think people were just ready for a different kind of leadership,” she said. “I think I represented something different.”

Hemmens is one of three women on council, being joined by incumbent Sheryl Armstrong and Zeni Maartman. Joining council after her own decisive victory in the 2017 byelection, Armstrong secured 15,817 votes on Saturday.

Armstrong said the main focus of the next four years should be rebuilding Nanaimo’s image.

“I think there’s a lot of feelings out there we’re a fractured community. One thing policing taught me is people have short memories. So if we can starting building some successes, that’s what we’re going to start being remembered for.”

To turn around the image Nanaimo currently has, Armstrong said they should analyze and prioritize motions made by the previous council to determine a better, possibly newer way forward.

As one of only two incumbents on council, Armstrong said she feels good about what can be accomplished in the next four years.

“We can agree to disagree respectfully, I can learn from them, they can learn from me,” she said of her new co-workers.

Ian Thorpe is the other incumbent who remains at the council table.

“Four years ago I was the newbie and now I guess I’m the senior person, not just in age but experience. I have learned a lot over the last four years and I look forward to sharing that with new members of council and helping them learn the ropes,” he said.

Looking at the significant voter turnout, Thorpe said he wasn’t surprised in the slightest.

“There was a lot of frustration over what happened during the last four years and I think a lot of voters became engaged as a result and did their homework.”

To guide Nanaimo back onto the right path, Thorpe said hiring a permanent city manager and replacing senior staff who left during tough times are his major goals.

“Then, with that in place, we can start moving ahead on the big issues.”

Councillors Jerry Hong and Gord Fuller also ran for re-election. Hong received slightly more than 4,000 votes, compared to the nearly 7,000 he secured in the last election.

Fuller dropped from approximately 6,700 votes to 1,930.

With significantly more ballots cast in 2018 compared to 2014, the lowest vote total of Nanaimo’s new council would have handily secured a seat in 2014.

Zeni Maartman earned the eighth council seat with 8,558 votes, putting her slightly behind 2014’s second-highest vote earning candidate Bill Yoachim who had 8,794 people vote for him.

Mayor

Leonard Krog – 20,040 (72.9%)

===

Don Hubbard – 6,802 (24.8%)

Ray Farmere – 365 (1.3%)

Council

Erin Hemmens – 15,937 (58%)

Sheryl Armstrong (Incumbent) – 15,817 (57.6%)

Ben Geselbracht – 15,136 (55.1%)

Tyler Brown – 14,935 (54.4%)

Jim Turley – 11,649 (42.4%)

Don Bonner – 9,674 (35.2%)

Ian Thorpe (Incumbent) – 8,993 (32.7%)

Zeni Maartman – 8,558 (31.1%)

===

Jeet Manhas – 5,994

Norm Smith – 5,824

Gary Korpan – 5,451

Wendy Pratt – 5,092

Peter Kent – 4,776

Peter Urquhart – 4,683

Brian Loos – 4,322

Jerry Hong (Incumbent) – 4,063

Guy Beaulieu – 3,921

Michael Ribicic – 3,690

Noah Routley – 3,629

Alexis Petersen – 3,606

Darcy Olsen – 3,482

Pele Gouda – 2,686

Bill Manners – 2,074

Rick Smith – 2,023

Ashely Zboyovsky – 2,023

Lloyd MacIlquham – 1,962

Gord Fuller (Incumbent) – 1,930

Brunie Brunie – 1,774

Balakrishna Thammanna – 1,760

Rae Kornberger – 1,555

Kevin Storrie – 1,411

Trent Whaley – 1,273

Al Thompson – 1,042

David Simpson – 945

Fred Statham – 856

Richard Scott – 692

Conrad Peach – 667

Avel Turnip – 610

Ken Osborn – 605

Bob Breuker – 198

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