Cecil Clarke to return to mayor's office in CBRM
Clarke was defeated in 2020 after holding the mayor's seat for 8 years
Longtime political veteran Cecil Clarke staged his latest comeback on Saturday, retaking the mayor's office in Cape Breton Regional Municipality with a resounding election win.
The 56-year-old former provincial cabinet minister faced off against eight challengers, but it was not a rematch against Amanda McDougall, the current mayor of the municipality who narrowly defeated Clarke four years ago. She decided not to run for re-election.
Clarke served two terms as mayor before being knocked off by McDougall in 2020.
In a room full of supporters on Saturday at the Horizon Achievement Centre in Sydney, Clarke said the community is getting "a renewed mayor" who is reinvigorated and understands the importance of having personal connections with constituents.
"It feels great," he told CBC News.
WATCH | Mayor-elect Cecil Clarke details his plans for the municipality and why he's ready for the job on day one
"This is a continuation of a lifelong passion of mine."
Clake said he's already talked with Premier Tim Houston and Municipal Affairs Minister John Lohr and has a meeting scheduled with them next week. He said he plans to discuss waterfront development, wastewater projects that need to be addressed, roads and a long-term plan for the municipality.
When polls closed, Clarke opened up a quick lead as results started rolling in and did not look back, outpacing challengers including Joe Ward and Rankin MacSween. With almost all of 132 polls reporting, Clarke had 13,002 votes, followed by Ward with 9,269 and MacSween with 8,886. MacSween finished second to Clarke in each of his previous two mayoral wins.
CBC News is also projecting Eldon MacDonald will hold his seat in District 5, Paul Nickituk will be the next councillor in District 10 and Darren O'Quinn will return as councillor for District 11. Steven MacNeil narrowly won the race for District 8 and Esmond (Blue) Marshall will be the next councillor in District 3 after losing the seat in the last election.
Dave MacKeigan is projected to be the next councillor for District 9, unseating incumbent Ken Tracey, and Kim Sheppard will be the next councillor for District 12, defeating incumbent Lorne Green.
Five councillors were acclaimed: Gordon MacDonald in District 1; Earlene MacMullin in District 2; Steve Gillespie in District 4; Glenn Paruch in District 6; and Steve Parsons in District 7.
With files from Tom Ayers, Kyle Moore and Erin Pottie
