Charlie Clark has been declared Saskatoon’s mayor-elect.
The longtime councillor won a tight mayoral race over incumbent Don Atchison and newcomer Kelley Moore in the city's civic election Wednesday.
“I’m very excited, and I am so proud of this campaign, this city, this community,” Clark said from City Hall after the final polls reported.
“We had a civic election that is going to be very memorable for Saskatoon and I want to congratulate all the candidates who ran.”
His 41 per cent of the vote — or 32,565 votes — was enough to unseat Atchison, who earned 37 per cent of the vote — or 29,518 ballots — when the final unofficial results came in at about 10:30 p.m.
“The voters have spoken tonight, and the voters are always right in the end,” Atchison, who served 13 years as mayor before the defeat, said inside City Hall.
“It’s been a real honour to be able to serve the citizens of Saskatoon — a truly humbling experience along the way.”
Moore, who finished third with 22 per cent of the vote, earned 17,381 votes, while fourth candidate Devon Hein grabbed 548 votes, or one per cent of the ballots.
Moore was making her first run in civic politics and, at one during the race, was leading in the Maintstreet/Postmedia polls.
“I’m proud of the campaign we ran,” she told CTV News following the loss. “It’s not the outcome I wanted but it’s not a bad outcome either.”
Clark acknowledged the strong campaigns put forward by his competitors.
“Everybody worked hard, and we had strong debates. We had an active election,” Clark said.
He was met with cheers when he walked through City Hall’s doors following the final results, and a crowd of supporters and media quickly surrounded him.
“I love this town,” he said. “I’m inspired by this city. I’m inspired by the people of this city and I am so excited about the future.”
He thanked his campaign team and his family who supported him during the race, and said he’s ready to push Saskatoon forward.
“I think people know this is a very important time for our city and it’s a time of change and it’s time to bring Saskatoon into a new era.”
Official results are expected to be announced Friday, Oct. 28.
Saskatoon’s next mayor and city council are expected to be sworn in Monday, Oct. 31.
