Polling station in Windsor-Tecumseh riding for the 2014 Provincial Election (Photo by Maureen Revait)Polling station in Windsor-Tecumseh riding for the 2014 Provincial Election (Photo by Maureen Revait)
Windsor

Who's running for the Windsor-Essex school boards?

First of a three-part series.

Voters in Windsor-Essex will be asked on Monday to choose who will represent them at city hall and on their school boards for the next four years.

This summer, BlackburnNewsWindsor.com completed its comprehensive tracking of the nomination process and ran a three-part series on the candidates running in this election. The newsroom has updated the series and will again run it throughout the weekend, leading up to Monday's vote.

Part one of the election weekend series will concentrate on the school board trustee candidates, covering the two English-language boards and the two French-language boards.

The candidates listed here are based on the official election information provided on each municipality's official website as of Friday morning. These candidates will appear on Monday's ballot.

BlackburnNewsWindsor.com will provide extensive coverage of the election results online and on social media Monday evening. Hourly updates will be provided on-air on MIX 96.7FM and Windsor's Country 95.9 beginning when the polls close at 8 p.m. The entire BlackburnNews.com team will be working to gather the latest election results and reactions.

Greater Essex County District School Board (English Public)

The public school board in Windsor-Essex consists of ten elected members, plus two student trustees who are appointed by the board before every school year. There are two members elected in three of the electoral districts.

In the district representing Windsor Wards 1, 2 and 9; board chairperson Kim McKinley and member Jessica Sartori have filed for re-election. There are four challengers going for the two spots, Sushil Jain, Patrick Hannon, Linda Qin and Shirley-Lyn Watson.

Alan Halberstadt is running for re-election in Windsor Wards 3, 4 and 10. The other incumbent, Tom Kilpatrick, is not. The six challengers for the two seats are Omar Chafchak, Sarah Cipkar, Katrina Elchami, David Ferguson, Beau Helbert and Jag Pathak.

In the district representing Windsor Wards 5, 6, 7 and 8, incumbents Cheryl Lovell and Gale Simko-Hatfield have put in their nomination papers. Three people are running against them, Cathie Cooke, Laurie Komon and former federal Windsor West PC candidate Henry Lau.

In Tecumseh and Lakeshore, incumbent Connie Buckler is facing off against Rebekah Harrison and Alicia Higgison.

Julia Burgess is seeking another term for the district covering Essex, Kingsville and Harrow. She is being challenged by Sheri Dzudovich.

Board vice-chairman Ron LeClair has been acclaimed for Amherstburg and LaSalle.

There is an open seat for the Leamington and Pelee Island district. Aimee Omstead and Rae-Anne Scratch are vying to succeed Dave Taves, who is not seeking re-election.

Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board (English Catholic)

The Catholic board elects nine trustees, one from each electoral district. There are two appointed student trustees.

In Windsor Ward 1 and 10, incumbent Fulvio Valentinis is seeking re-election, running against Kevin Homick and Joshua Pinesse.

The seat in Windsor Ward 2 and 9 is open, with Fabio Costante running for Windsor City Council. Two candidates have filed to succeed him, Xavier Gonzalez and Tony Polifroni.

For the district covering Windsor Ward 3 and 4, incumbent Bernie Mastromattei is facing off against Eric Renaud and Andrew Furlong.

For Windsor Ward 5 and 8, Fred Alexander wants another term. His challenger is Jason Lazarus.

There will be a new member for Windsor Ward 6 and 7, and a new board chairperson in the fall, as Barbara Holland is running for City Council. Kim Bouchard and Jeremy Renaud are running to succeed her.

Susan Tope is not seeking another term for the Tecumseh seat. Mary Heath is running and will be acclaimed.

Board vice-chair Lisa Soulliere is acclaimed for the Lakeshore seat.

In the district representing Essex, Harrow, Kingsville and Leamington, incumbent Mary DiMenna is running against Derek Tkachuk.

For LaSalle and Amherstburg, Frank DiTomasso has filed to run again. He has two challengers, Francis Ducharme and Kim Rathbone.

Conseil Scolaire Catholique Providence (French Catholic)

There will be some new faces from Windsor-Essex on the French Catholic school board, as only two incumbents are running again.

Both of the incumbents are running unopposed. Jacques Kenny, who previously represented the area covering Lakeshore Wards 1, 2, 3 and 4 and Tecumseh Wards 2, 3 and 4; will represent Windsor Wards 1 and 9. That district's incumbent, Adrien Bezaire, is running for LaSalle Town Council.

The other acclaimed incumbent is Didier Marotte, from Essex, Amherstburg and Kingsville.

Jean-Francois Gauthier is running unopposed for Kenny's previous seat.

Christian Trudeau is acclaimed in Windsor Wards 2, 3, 4, 5, 8 and 10, succeeding Celine Vachon.

For the district representing Tecumseh and Windsor Wards 6 and 7, Pauline Morais and Francois Nono are running for the open seat. Joseph Bisnaire is not running again.

Doris Sauve will return as the representative for Lakeshore Wards 5 and 6, Leamington and Pelee Island.

Conseil Scolaire Viamonde (French Public)

There are 11 trustees representing the French public board, which covers most of southwestern Ontario and part of the GTA.

Three candidates are running for the only seat from Windsor-Essex. Incumbent Guillaume Teasdale is running against Owen Herold and Yogen Noyadoo.

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