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Three new councillors in NB

Voters shook up the council ranks in a major way in North Battleford's municipal election Wednesday.
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Voters shook up the council ranks in a major way in North Battleford's municipal election Wednesday.

Two council incumbents - Ron Crush and Grace Lan- were defeated while three new councillors were elected Wednesday as North Battleford voters braved the ice and snow to choose representatives to serve along with acclaimed Mayor Ian Hamilton.

The big winner on the night turned out to be Ryan Bater. The two-time former Liberal candidate for the legislature topped the polls for the six council seats in his first municipal race.

Unofficial returns with all 19 polls reporting showed Bater with 1,317 votes, with Trent Houk elected in second with 1,100, newcomer Greg Lightfoot with 1,060, incumbent Ray Fox with 1,000 and incumbent Don Buglas with 998. In sixth place was newcomer Cathy Richardson, who claimed the final council seat with 987 votes.

On the outside looking in were incumbents Ron Crush with 960 and Grace Lang with 853, followed by Brian Maunula at 852, Steven Cormons with 408, Roxanne Kennedy with 281 and Tom Schwab with 226.

City Hall was abuzz with activity on election night as the votes were tallied from across the city. The close battle between Richardson and Crush for the sixth and final council spot echoed the close mayor's race of 2009 when Ian Hamilton defeated Brad Pattinson by only 15 votes.

Veterans Buglas and Fox were both elected to fourth terms. Given what happened to some of their colleagues they also looked relieved as well.

"I'm feeling very fortunate to serve the citizens of North Battleford for another term," Buglas, who said the results made "the stomach flip a bit."

"(But) that's okay. That's all a part of the way this works. It makes me want to work harder for the City and everything that we have."

"There certainly were a lot of butterflies going," admitted Fox, who trailed very early on in the evening before he pulled ahead to stay.

The victories by three newcomers - Bater, Lightfoot and Richardson - were not lost on Fox.

"I guess sometimes there's got to be change," he said. "There are some really well deserving people who displayed their own leadership abilities and skills and organized themselves a good campaign."

For Bater, it was a sweet election night a year after a disappointing provincial election run as provincial Liberal leader. He credits some of his past runs and work for his current success.

"People knew who I was. It was just a matter of solidifying the support in terms of votes tonight. I think a lot of my work in the past has resulted in this success," said Bater, who said voters sent a message that "they wanted change" with the results of the municipal vote.

Results remain unofficial until 11 a.m. Thursday when the final results are made official.