Some New Brunswickers are waking up to new mayors and changes in council after Monday’s municipal elections. Two of the three largest cities in the province are getting new mayors. Unofficial results from Elections NB show Steve Hicks won the mayoral race in Fredericton. He beat out former MP Jenica Atwin in the race to replace Kate Rogers as mayor. Hicks is a longtime city councillor for Fredericton, he campaigned on affordability and public safety. In Moncton, three-term city councillor Shawn Crossman is mayor-elect after defeating Brian Murphy by just 294 votes to replace Paulette Thériault. “I’m extremely honoured by the citizens of Moncton that have given me the opportunity to lead the city for the next four years with our council and we do have a lot of projects to get covered,” said Crossman after Monday’s victory. Around 9:30 p.m., Murphy conceded defeat and went to the Royal Canadian Legion to shake hands with Crossman, which the new mayor called a classy move. “I thought that was very gentlemanly of him to do that, very kind of him to do that and that’s what we call respect,” said Crossman. Murphy said he’s confident the city is in good hands with Crossman. “I feel we ran a very good campaign and we came close. You know, we resonated. That’s good. I feel good about it either way,” said Murphy. Crossman and his council will begin their terms on June 1. In the port city of Saint John, Donna Reardon won a second term as mayor after beating incumbent councillor Barry Ogden. Ogden was about 1,200 votes behind. New Brunswickers can find local governments and rural districts on the Elections New Brunswick website. With files from CTV’s Derek Haggett and The Canadian Press For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
