Dan Kutcher says a housing strategy will be his 1st focus as mayor of Summerside

Dan Kutcher will be the new mayor of Summerside, with a commanding lead of 3,390 votes to incumbent Basil Stewart's 1,999.

Kutcher also swept the city — winning the race in all of the city's eight wards.

"It's really exciting, and really looking forward to the opportunity. Certainly humbled and honoured to be able to represent all of the people in this beautiful city of Summerside," Kutcher told CBC News.

Kutcher said he got the impression at the door that people were ready for a change at city hall. He said the first thing he's committing to as mayor is to create a mayor's task force on affordable housing and manageable rent.

The group will include builders, not-for-profit groups and government officials that will come up with a made-in-Summerside housing strategy in the first six months.

"I will never pretend to be an expert on any of this stuff," he said. "My focus and my objective is to make sure I get the right people at the table."

Kutcher said he and Stewart are friends and that he'll be sitting down with him next week to hear his input.

"I have the utmost respect for him and I'm honoured to be able to follow in his footsteps. Certainly they're big shoes to fill," Kutcher said. "But at the same time, I'm ready. I think our community is ready and it's time to move forward."

Councillors elected

Here are the councillors elected in Summerside.

Bruce MacDougall has won Ward 1 – St. Eleanor's-Bayview by acclamation.

Justin Doiron has won Ward 2 –  St. Eleanor's-Slemon Park by acclamation.

Barb Ramsay has won Ward 3 – Summerside-North by acclamation.

Cory Snow has won Ward 4 – Clifton-Market by acclamation.

Barb Gallant has won Ward 5 – Hillcrest-Platte River. This was a three-way race between Barb Gallant, Jim Steele and Patrick McMahon. Incumbent councillor Greg Campbell did not reoffer. Gallant won with 261 votes, with McMahon coming in second place with 233 votes. Steele had 182.

Norma McColeman has won Ward 6 – Center East-Downtown. Two people ran here: incumbent McColeman and Doreen Percy. McColeman won with 357 votes to Percy's 260.

Rick Morrison has won Ward 7 – Green Shore-Three Oaks. With incumbent Brian McFeely not reoffering, only two people ran here: Nicholas Cameron and Morrison. Morrison won with 498 votes to Cameron's 306.

Carrie Adams has won Ward 8 – Wilmot by acclamation.