Heffer wins in North Huron, Ginn, MacLellan return in Central Huron, Huron East

BY SHAWN LOUGHLIN

The ballots have been tabulated and, in many cases, voters chose change around Huron County. As of press time, all of the election results have been classified as unofficial.

NORTH HURON
In North Huron, Paul Heffer is the new reeve, earning 810 votes, representing 44.3 per cent of the vote. The Wingham Ward Councillor unseated both outgoing Deputy-Reeve Trevor Seip (569 votes, 31.1 per cent) and outgoing Reeve Bernie Bailey (410 votes, 22.4 per cent). Newcomer Ranko Markeljevic garnered the support of 38 voters, 2.1 per cent of the vote.
Thirteen people, or 0.7 per cent, abstained from their vote for reeve.

In a very close vote, incumbent East Wawanosh Ward Councillors Chris Palmer and Anita van Hittersum will return to the two available spots, earning 286 and 277 votes, respectively. They defeated Kelly Tiffin, who received the support of 267 votes, or 32.2 per cent of the vote.

In the Wingham Ward, both councillors will be new. Mitch Wright received 820 votes, 41.1 per cent of the vote and Lonnie Whitfield had support from 527 voters, 26.4 per cent of the vote.

Coming up just short were Stacey Boyd with 451 votes (22.6 per cent), Amy Schiestel with 98 votes (4.9 per cent), Stephen Hill with 61 votes (3.1 per cent) and Tanya Jane Williams with 40 (two per cent).
Eleven people abstained from their Wingham Ward vote.

In North Huron, Patricia Elaine Smith received just over 80 per cent of the vote to be the area’s trustee on the Avon Maitland District School Board, with 1,188 votes. Michel Starenky had the support of 164 voters (11.1 per cent) and Ray Berg received 131 votes (8.8 per cent). 
Nearly 11 per cent (179 voters) abstained in the school board race.
Voter turnout in North Huron was 45.9 per cent, with 1,845 of 4,016 electors voting. Five people declined their ballots.

HURON EAST
In Huron East, 30.5 per cent of people voted, meaning that 2,304 of 7,562 electors voted. Ten people declined their ballot.
Incumbent Mayor Bernie MacLellan will return to his post with 70.1 per cent of the vote, the support of 1,595 people. His challenger, Nancy Craig, received 679 votes, just under 30 per cent of the vote. Twenty people abstained.

In the Grey Ward, incumbent Councillors Alvin McLellan and Dianne Diehl will both return with 305 and 272 votes, respectively, representing 44.7 and 39.9 per cent of the vote. Newcomer Curtis McKinnon received 105 votes, or 15.4 per cent. Six people abstained.

In Huron East, Deborah Logue received the lion’s share of the votes to be the area’s trustee for the Avon Maitland District School Board with 1,429 or 77.6 per cent of the vote. Dennis Valenta received 412 votes, just over 22 per cent. Just over 100 people abstained from the school board vote in Huron East.

Incumbent Tuckersmith Councillors Ray Chartrand and Larry McGrath will return for another term, as will incumbent McKillop Councillors Gloria Wilbee and Brenda Dalton.

In Brussels, incumbent Councillor Justin Morrison has been acclaimed, as has newcomer Jeff Newell, while in Seaforth, current Deputy-Mayor Bob Fisher has been acclaimed to return as a Seaforth Ward Councillor, with newcomer John Steffler also being acclaimed.

CENTRAL HURON
Central Huron Mayor Jim Ginn will return for another term with 1,257 votes. He defeated current Deputy-Mayor Dave Jewitt, who garnered 1,147 votes.

Marg Anderson will be the municipality’s new deputy-mayor with 1,477 votes, defeating Jared Petteplace and his 901 votes.
Danny Colquhoun, Jennifer Cox and Everett Smith will serve as the three East Ward Councillors with 934, 1,127 and 923 votes respectively. They bested Jeffery Scholl (595 votes) and Allan Peel (310 votes).

All three incumbent West Ward Councillors - Alison Lobb, Michael Russo and Adam Robinson - have been acclaimed to return to their positions.

In Central Huron, 1,518 people voted for Deborah Logue to be their trustee on the Avon Maitland District School Board, garnering more support than Dennis Valenta and his 516 votes.

MORRIS-TURNBERRY
Morris-Turnberry Mayor Jamie Heffer has been acclaimed to return to his position. 
He will be joined by returning incumbent Councillors Kevin Freiburger (720 votes), Jamie McCallum (689 votes) and Sharen Zinn (590 votes), as well as newcomer Jodi Snell with 587 votes.

Snell’s 587 votes edged out Michie’s 586 by just one vote. Also coming up just short was Dale McFarlan, who received 328 votes.
In Morris-Turnberry, 659 people voted for Patricia Elaine Smith to be their trustee on the Avon Maitland District School Board. Michel Starenky received 113 votes and Ray Berg had the support of 90 voters.

ACW
Just over 40 per cent of electors in Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh cast a vote (2,377 of 5,861) and two people declined their ballot.

Mayor Glen McNeil has been acclaimed to return to the position, while Councillor Bill Vanstone will be the next deputy-mayor with 1,480 votes (64.9 per cent). He defeated incumbent Deputy-Mayor Roger Watt, who received 801 votes (35.1 per cent). Ninety-four people abstained from their deputy-mayor vote.

Incumbent Councillors Anita Snobelen, Wayne Forster and Jennifer Miltenburg will return to their positions with 1,298, 1,247 and 1,189 votes, respectively. Joining them will be new Councillors Evan Hickey (1,408 votes) and Curtis Blake (1,328 votes).
Coming up short were incumbent Councillor Gloria Fisher (1,067 votes) and newcomers Patti Wilkins (914 votes) and Peter McKee (824 votes).
Forty people abstained from their councillor vote.

GODERICH
In Goderich, incumbent Deputy-Mayor Myles Murdock will be the next mayor, succeeding the late John Grace, with 1,844 votes. Murdock beat incumbent Councillor Matt Hoy with 1,496 votes. Sixty-nine people abstained from the mayoral vote.
Trevor Bazinet will be the next deputy-mayor with 1,985 votes, defeating Stephen Tamming with 1,335 votes. Eighty-nine people abstained from the vote.

Liz Petrie (2,632 votes), Leah Noel (2,554 votes), Allison Segeren (2,241 votes), Randy Carroll (2,158 votes) and John Thompson (1,409 votes) will serve as councillors in the coming term. They edged out Chapin Korosec (1,333 votes), Katrina Bos (874 votes), Shawn Thomson (779 votes) and Madeleine Becke (427 votes). Forty-two people abstained from the councillor vote.
Goderich saw a 52.2 per cent voter turnout, with 3,421 of 6,552 electors casting their vote. Thirteen people declined their ballot.

BLUEWATER
In Bluewater, incumbent Mayor Paul Klopp has been acclaimed to another term in the municipality’s top position. John Becker has been elected as Bluewater’s next deputy-mayor with 1,375 votes.

Greg Lamport has been elected as the Stanley West Ward councillor with 219 votes and Winona Bailey will be the Zurich Ward councillor with 195 votes. Acclaimed are Bill Whetstone as the Bayfield Ward councillor, Scott Harris as the Hensall Ward councillor, Joseph K. Groot as the Hay East Ward councillor, Tyler Hessel as the Hay West councillor and Peter Gordon Walden as the Stanley East Ward councillor.

Thirty-one per cent of electors cast a vote in this year’s election, with 2,765 of 8,913 people casting their vote.

SOUTH HURON
Incumbent Mayor George Finch will return to his position, earning 2,073 (57.9 per cent) votes. He defeated Maureen Cole, who received 1,506 votes, or 42.1 per cent. Incumbent Deputy-Mayor Jim Dietrich will also return with 2,189 votes, representing 62.1 per cent of the vote. He defeated Karen Brown, who received 1,338 votes, 37.9 per cent of the vote.

Marissa Vaughan and Milt Dietrich will serve as the two Stephen (Ward 1) councillors in the coming term, with 690 and 388 votes, respectively.

The pair defeated Philip Van Raay (361 votes), Dianne Faubert (290 votes), Wendy McLeod-Haggitt (298 votes), Wayne (Norris) Desjardine (196 votes), Sheila Preszcator (63 votes) and John Pond (49 votes).

Aaron Neeb (1,234 votes) and Marc Thomas Denomme (1,114 votes) will serve as the two Exeter (Ward 2) councillors, defeating Barb Ferguson Willard (974 votes). 

Ted Oke has been acclaimed as the Usborne (Ward 3) councillor. Robert Hunking has also been acclaimed as the community’s trustee for the Avon Maitland District School Board.

HOWICK
There was no election-night action in Howick, as everyone who put their name forward back in August was acclaimed to their position.

Incumbent Reeve Doug Harding will return to his position, while Councillor Megan Gibson has been acclaimed to the deputy-reeve position for the coming term.

Incumbent Councillors Doug Hargrave and Marvin Grimes will return to their positions. Rosemary Rognvaldson has been acclaimed to the third councillor position. She ran for reeve in 2018, but lost out to Harding.