London Free Press reporters and photographers are monitoring the 14 ward races and the mayoral battle in London, and Postmedia colleagues are in communities from Chatham to Woodstock.
8:48 p.m. In London’s mayoral race it’s not even close with Josh Morgan carrying more than 70% of the votes with 38 of 202 polls counted. Second-place Khalil Ramal has about 17%.
And in Ward 1, bearing in mind it’s still early, challenger Hadleigh McAlister has twice as many votes as incumbent Michael van Holst with 38/202 polls reporting. It was an at-times-rough campaign for van Holst.
8:43 p.m. In St. Thomas, the rematch that wasn’t: Our Calvi Leon reports that Joe Preston has been re-elected St. Thomas mayor with 5,526 votes to Heather Jackson’s 2,614. 30% of eligible voters cast a ballot.
8:36 p.m. Jerry Accione, a two-term city councilor has been elected Woodstock’s new mayor – defeating David Hilderley by a mere 150 votes. Two-term incumbent Trevor Birtch, running while facing charges of sexual assaultfinishes a distant fourth with just 3 per cent of the vote.
8:33 p.m. From LFP city hall reporter Megan Stacey: Sam Trosow out ahead of Mariam Hamou in Ward 6 (again just 17/202 polls reporting). That might be a closer race than some have predicted. I think Hamou’s got it, but I could be wrong. She was appointed last fall after Phil Squire resigned.
8:29 p.m. in Chatham, where the mayoral incumbent has an early lead:
8:21 p.m. A few London city council incumbents out to big early leads: Elizabeth Peloza, Shawn Lewis and Anna Hopkins. Michael van Holst in Ward 1 is the lone incumbent trailing in the (very) early going.
8:20 p.m. Josh Morgan out to a big early lead in London’s mayoral race with 9,435 votes to second-place Khalil Ramal, who has 2,304. That’s with 17/202 polls reporting.
8:15 p.m. In Woodstock, mayoral challengers Jerry Acchione and David Hilderley are neck-and-neck as the early mayoral results roll in. Each has roughly 1,250 votes – meanwhile incumbent Trevor Birtch has 130 votes.
8:00 p.m. Polls have officially closed. The wait begins for results to roll in.
7:50 p.m.
7:40 p.m.
7:36 p.m. In Woodstock, one of the most fascinating mayoral campaigns in recent memory has played out with two-term incumbent Trevor Birtch seeking re-election while facing sexual assault allegations. He addressed the charges here.
7:31 p.m.
7:30 p.m. Polls close in 30 minutes. There’s still time!
7:26 p.m. A London election-night tradition is all (or most) of the candidates gathering at the convention centre, now known as RBC Place, once the results are known. It sounds as if many of the favorites don’t plan on going there, but Ward 8 challenger Colleen McCauley says she plans to be there after a campaign she describes as “very positive.” She added: “It’s been interesting.
7:21 p.m. St. Thomas city hall has moved entirely to electronic voting for tonight’s civic election. But those without adequate internet or telephone access could go to a voting assistance center to cast their ballots. That includes father-daughter duo Scott and Laura Tansley, who both voted for Heather Jackson for mayor. (Calvi Leon/LFP)
7:15 p.m. Voters across the London region will also elect local school board trustees tonight. Safe to say there were many recognizable names on their bundles, as our Heather Rivers noted in this story.
7:13 p.m. Sarnia, where Mike Bradley is seeking an 11th term as mayor:
7:09 p.m.
7:04 p.m. Emma Stevens-Daugharty carries a box of ballots at city hall from one of the many special polling stations in London, many in long-term care homes, that closed at 6 pm Most polling stations are open for about another hour, until 8 pm ( Mike Hensen/The London Free Press)
7:01 pm LFP’s Norman De Bono reports that in London businesses want tonight’s civic election to result in solutions to the city’s labor shortage. 60 per cent of London Chamber of Commerce members stated in its election survey that better transit is needed to get people to work, which they believe is critical to getting more people on the job.
6:46 p.m. Stratford:
6:45 p.m. A clear question will be answered tonight in the Lambton County community of Warwick Township: Can a mayor who backed the so-called Freedom Convoy that crippled downtown Ottawa win re-election? Here is some background on the race.
6:33 p.m.: Four years ago, a margin of just 550 votes separated winner Joe Preston from the defeated incumbent, Heather Jackson, in the St. Thomas mayoral race. Tonight’s rematch should be among the most interesting races in Southwestern Ontario. This story by our Calvi Leon sets the stage for it.
6:27 p.m.:
6:25 p.m. It’s been a controversial couple of years for Ward 1 London city council incumbent Michael van Holst, maybe the highest-profile COVID-19 vaccine critic in the city. He tells our Norman De Bono he’s planning a low-key election finale with “a quiet evening at home.” He said: “It’s been a lot of work, I just want to relax. I’m looking forward to watching the results come in.”
6:21 p.m. in Ward 5, London:
6:19 p.m. As of 4:30 pm, just 37% of eligible Stratford voters have cast a ballot in the city election. Compare that to nearly half of voters who cast a ballot in the 2018 election. Online and telephone polls close at 8 pm – Galen Simmons
6:11 p.m. The view from Chatham:
5:58 p.m.
A little “by the numbers” fun for tonight’s London municipal election from our Megan Stacey:
*71 candidates
*5 open ward seats (Wards 3, 4, 5, 7, 11)
*Currently city council has 3 members named Steve, there are 3 Davids running this year and 2 people with surname Lehman
*2 hours until polls close!
5:31 p.m.
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5:27 p.m. We spoke with voters across the city today to ask them a simple question with many possible answers: Who was your choice for mayor, and why? You can read the story here.
5:09 p.m. You might remember, as we do, the last London election, when the clock ticked well beyond midnight – in fact, well into the next afternoon – before the city council election results were finalized. But that experiment with ranked balloting was a one-off, and London, like all Ontario cities, is back to a first-past-the-post that, if nothing else, should make for faster results.
As provincial officials said in a statement, when they eliminated ranked balloting as an option: “Now is not the time for municipalities to experiment with costly changes to how municipal elections are conducted.”