Mayor Linnsie Clark asnwers questions in front of city hall of Wednesday after announcing that she will apply for a judicial review of sanctions levelled upon her over a code of conduct breach. -- News File Photo
Medicine Hat News
The city has informed the News that the Municipal Election results published at 5 p.m. today are estimated to represent:
90 per cent of the ballots cast for mayor,
70 per cent of the ballots for city council,
60 per cent of school trustee ballots.
The city will not be making any unofficial declarations on any race this evening. Counting will continue until 10 p.m. this evening and reporting of unofficial results will resume at 9 a.m. on Wednesday.
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The city posted a few unofficial council and trustee results at 5 p.m. and says it is the final update for Oct. 21. They will resume reporting at 9 a.m. on Wednesday.
The city will go 31 hours without updating the mayoral race, with the last votes reported at 1:55 a.m. Tuesday.
The News is still waiting for a response on what percentage of polling has been counted and expects to have that information this evening.
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The city posted on their Facebook at 4:38 p.m. that counting is still underway and results will be updated at least once an hour during regular business hours as new reports become available until counting is done.
When asked by the News, no answer was provided as to why no mayoral votes have been reported since 1:55 a.m.
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As of 3:30 p.m., there has been no new mayoral updates since 1:55 a.m. The News has learned the Big Marble Go Centre ballots and some advance/special ballots are still to be counted. A trickle of unofficial results have been reported in the council and trustee races.
A source close to the Redcliff election has told the News there will be a recount of the council race Wednesday at 1 p.m.
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Ballot counting has resumed on the second day of the Medicine Hat Municipal Election with a wave of council votes coming in at 11:45 a.m. The News will continue coverage throughout the day as more unofficial results are released.
In the school trustee races, the News projects Chuck Hellman, Kathy Glasgo and Richard Mastel will be elected to the Medicine Hat Catholic Board of Education and Pat Grisonich, Quinn Skelton and Catherine Wilson will be elected to Medicine Hat Public School Division board.
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*Final update of the night, coming at 1:55 a.m.–the News will continue up-to-date coverage when the city resumes counting in the morning.
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With more than 16,000 votes counted in the Medicine Hat municipal election, the News is able to project Linnsie Clark will retain her role as mayor for another four years.
Clark led with 32.4 per cent of the vote to Drew Barnes who was in second with 28.2 per cent. She had an early lead in her second election and held it, going wire to wire to retain her seat atop the council horseshoe.
While results are unofficial, it appears the citizens of Medicine Hat have elected to give Clark a second run after what was a tumultuous and often times controversial first term. She seemed to gain momentum following the official termination of CAO Ann Mitchell, which many Hatters saw as vindication for the mayor’s actions during the August 2023 dispute.
Barnes entered the race with political experience and a prominent name having served as an MLA of the provincial government for three terms. He spoke of bringing calm to the perceived chaos at city hall and emerged as an early front runner. Leading up to the election, both Clark and Barnes seemed to have momentum and strong support.
But in the end, Hatters chose Clark over change.
Regardless of the final totals, Clark will not have nearly the mandate she had in 2021 when she received 66.4 per cent of the vote, amassing more than 13,000 votes. At 33 per cent, as of last update, her support has been cut in half and it appears likely she will have an entirely new council to work with.
Former councillor Kris Samraj will likely finish in third, he was sitting at 19.9 per cent at last update. Former police chief and current councillor Andy McGrogan was in fourth at 13.2 per cent. Alan Rose was in fifth at 4.6 per cent followed by Mark Fisher 1.7 per cent.
In the race for council, it appears incumbent Shila Sharps, who filed the original complaint against Clark that led to the mayor’s sanctions, is paying the price for it sitting 23rd out of the 39 candidates as of last update. Meanwhile, both Robert Dumanowski and Alison Van Dyke sit ninth and 12th respectively, on the outside looking in.
The News is projecting Yusuf Mohammed, Ted Clugston, Stuart Young and Chris Hellman will all be elected to city council. An extremely tight race is unfolding for the final seats on council, with fewer than 65 separating seventh and 11th.
Election results for Redcliff and Cypress County can be found via clicking the hyperlinks. The News is able to call the Redcliff mayoral race and the Cypress County race. Results for both Redcliff and Cypress County can be found in the hyperlinks in the previous sentence.
Updated as of 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 21, all results are unofficial.
Medicine Hat
Mayoral
Linnsie Clark (Incumbent) – ELECTED: 5,765
Drew Barnes: 5,016
Kris Samraj: 3,532
Andy McGrogan: 2,350
Alan Rose: 821
Mark Fisher: 303
Council
Yusuf Mohammed – ELECTED: 3,119
Ted Clugston – ELECTED: 2,809
Stuart Young – ELECTED:2,638
Chris Hellman – ELECTED: 2,334
Cheryl Phaff: 1,582
Bill Cocks: 1,537
Robert Dumanowski (Incumbent): 1,378
Dan Reynish: 1,356
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Kirsten Spek: 1,336
Brian Varga: 1,308
Adam Koch: 1,289
Alison Van Dyke (Incumbent): 1,295
Brock Hale: 1,146
Immanuel Moritz: 1,077
Pamela Kunz: 1,069
Laura Butterfield: 1,035
Steven Pudwell: 1,030
Brian Robinson: 1,011
Jay Hitchen: 740
Kirby Schafer: 678
Kevin Monson: 671
Ron Fode: 637
Shila Sharps (Incumbent): 637
Gordon Cowan: 628
Troy Wason: 592
Kelly Allard: 532
Stephen Campbell: 530
Don Fedoruk: 530
Michael Reid: 525
Mark Albrecht: 507
Jodi Faith: 502
Dave Toth: 474
Christien Ellis: 436
Randall Noble: 426
Clayton Stevens: 418
Dana Christensen: 233
Donald Knudsen: 201
Kaleb Orge: 177
Micheal Starner: 175
Medicine Hat Catholic Board of Education Trustee
Chuck Hellman – ELECTED: 750
Kathy Glasgo – ELECTED: 678
Richard Mastel – ELECTED: 551
Bernard Thomas Kinch: 408
Patty Jo Folliott: 390
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Ray West: 374
Deanna Alford: 317
Monica Braat: 289
Alicia Doud: 260
Lindsay Heier: 195
One would think with the previous MESS at City Hall that the people would know better than to re-elect this Mayor? Sounds like a lot of slow learners still go out and vote……..I am sick and tired of MY PROPERTY TAXES GOING UP and up, and the WASTE OF TAX DOLLARS on freaking SOLAR FARM dreams……we don’t have the $$$$$ for these USELESS PROJECTS………haven’t we learned anything from the LAST CITY COUNCIL & MAYOR??? I guess NOT……..what a disgrace
Everyone loves to blame the Mayor while conveniently forgetting the real mess was made by the last council and the City Manager who got shown the door — along with her little fan club still clinging to the spotlight. The hypocrisy is wild. Now they act like responsible governance is “waste” just because it doesn’t fit their narrative. The truth is, responsible investment — even solar — builds long-term value, not just for the city but for homeowners too. If your property taxes went up, it’s partly because your home is worth more. That’s called a stronger city, not a failed one.
One would think with the previous MESS at City Hall that the people would know better than to re-elect this Mayor? Sounds like a lot of slow learners still go out and vote……..I am sick and tired of MY PROPERTY TAXES GOING UP and up, and the WASTE OF TAX DOLLARS on freaking SOLAR FARM dreams……we don’t have the $$$$$ for these USELESS PROJECTS………haven’t we learned anything from the LAST CITY COUNCIL & MAYOR??? I guess NOT……..what a disgrace
Everyone loves to blame the Mayor while conveniently forgetting the real mess was made by the last council and the City Manager who got shown the door — along with her little fan club still clinging to the spotlight. The hypocrisy is wild. Now they act like responsible governance is “waste” just because it doesn’t fit their narrative. The truth is, responsible investment — even solar — builds long-term value, not just for the city but for homeowners too. If your property taxes went up, it’s partly because your home is worth more. That’s called a stronger city, not a failed one.