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Six new faces set to make up Yellowknife city council

And with that, there is a new council-elect in the city of Yellowknife.
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Rob Warburton, left, and Cat McGurk were the top two vote-getters in Monday night’s Yellowknife council election. They’ll get to serve on council for a four-year term. Jonathan Gardiner/NNSL photo

And with that, there is a new council-elect in the city of Yellowknife.

The final numbers rolled in at around 9:30 p.m. and with all eight tabulators returned, here is the top eight and their vote totals:

Rob Warburton — 2,172

Cat McGurk — 2,132

Stacie Smith — 2,116

Tom McLennan — 1,883

Garett Cochrane — 1,831

Ryan Fequet — 1,711

Steve Payne — 1,642

Ben Hendriksen — 1,564

Warburton was at or near the top for much of the night with Smith and McGurk posting nearly identical vote totals from all of the eight tabulators.

Smith, along with Steve Payne, will be returning for another four years; Smith will serve for a second term, while Payne will sit for his third.

Yellowknifer reached Payne once the final vote came in and he said it was a tough vote to predict.

“You couldn’t use a crystal ball for this one,” he said. “I had no clue how it would go, but Stacie and I are back in. I was really hoping for Dwayne (Simmons) and Rommel (Silverio) to get in, but that didn’t happen.”

Silverio was the other candidate seeking a third term, but he ended up on the outside looking in.

Warburton and McGurk join Tom McLennan, Garett Cochrane, Ryan Fequet and Ben Hendriksen as the new members of council.

Payne said he knows the new council members-elect, but he wants to get to know them better.

“It’s a good group of people,” he said. “Stacie and I are the experienced ones there and it’s good that she’s there because we have a good grasp on the issues. We never agreed on everything, but we always worked together and that’s what I want to have continue.”

The city released the unofficial results late Monday evening and there will be no need for a recount. The total ballots cast, according to the city, was 3,939 out of 8,190 total eligible voters. That’s a turnout of 48 per cent, off slightly from the 56 per cent turnout four years ago.

A total of 3,004 ballots were received by mail with another 935 cast at the voter assistance locations at the Tree of Peace and the Multiplex.

See Wednesday’s Yellowknifer for the full recap of the evening that was on Monday.