Londoners have decided Josh Morgan will be the city's new mayor.
Morgan, who has served as a city councillor since 2014, and deputy mayor since 2020, defeated former London-Fanshawe Liberal MPP Khalil Ramal, with more than 65 per cent of the vote. Ramal took 22 per cent followed by Sandie Thomas in third with 3 per cent.
Two hours before the final results came in, Morgan tweeted out his acceptance and thanked Ramal and his other mayoral opponents.
"This is the London I’m proud to represent. If we share nothing else in common, you share with me the conviction that London, Ontario — our city, our home — has not only immense opportunity, but, together, immense capacity to meet and conquer the challenges before us," Morgan said in one of his tweets. "Thank you for granting me the honour and the privilege of serving as London’s 65th Mayor. I am grateful, and I am beyond humbled. Thank you all. Now, let's get to work," he concluded.
https://twitter.com/JoshMorganLDN/status/1584726987566125056
Along with a new mayor, comes a new city council, which includes a mix of incumbents and new-comers. A total of 61 candidates ran across London's 14 wards during the 2022 municipal campaign. Nine city councillors sought re-election, leaving at least five seats open for fresh faces.
Councillors Shawn Lewis (Ward 2), Steve Lehman (Ward 8), Anna Hopkins (Ward 9), Paul Van Meerbergen (Ward 10), Elizabeth Peloza and Steve Hillier (Ward 14), were all re-elected.
Three incumbents were pushed out Monday night for a 6/8 split of incumbents to new elected councillors
In Ward 1, councillor Michael van Holst was defeated by newcomer Hadleigh McCalister. van Holst lost to McCalister by 362 votes.
It was an extremely close race in Ward 6, with Mariam Hamou spending most of the evening neck-and-neck with Sam Trosow, who ultimately defeated Hamou by 299 votes.
In Ward 13, John Fyfe-Millar held a tight lead ahead of David Ferreira however, Fyfe-Millar was also pushed out narrowly, with Ferreira taking the spot by a mere 34 votes.
Other new councillors include former Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB) trustee Peter Cuddy, in Ward 3, defeating Bob Wright and Susan Stevenson in Ward 4 who came ahead of Matt Nicolaidis
In Ward 5, Jerry Pribil, who ran as a 2022 London North Centre Progressive Conservative, defeated Connor Pierotti. Corrine Rahman, another former TVDSB trustee, is now representing Ward 7, with Tommy Caldwell as the runner-up.
In Ward 11, Skylar Franke surged ahead of Jeremy McCall with 57.68 per cent of the votes. Franke and McCall had endorsements from a number of prominent community members, with Franke being endorsed by exiting Ward 11 councillor Stephen Turner and London-West MPP Peggy Sattler.
Sheri Polhill and Lori-Ann Pizzolato were re-elected as TVDSB trustees in Wards 1,11,12,14, while spots left vacant in Wards 2,3,4,5,6 by Cuddy and Rahman are being filled by Marianne Larsen and Leroy Osbourne. Sherri Moore was re-elected as trustee in Wards 7,8,9,10,13 along with newcomer Beth Mai.
For the London District Catholic School Board (LDCSB), Matthew Pizzuti was elected as board trustee for Wards 1, 14, Sandra Cruz was re-elected for Wards 2,3,4 as was Gabe Pizzuti for Wards 5,6,7 and John Jevnikar in Wards 11,12,13. Linda Steele maintained her seat in Wards 8,9,10 with no opponents.
During this election, London had 281,073 eligible voters with approximately 71,666 ballots cast, which equals 25.50 per cent voter turn out. London was the last city in Ontario to report its final results, which came in three hours after polls closed.