Around Montreal several races were real challenges while others were complete cakewalks.

On the nail-biting side, Ste. Anne de Bellevue faced a real race as former Montreal police commander Paul Chablo lost to Paola Hawa, a former provincial candidate for the Coalition Avenir Quebec and critic of the arrangement made to work on Exit 41. Hawa defeated Chablo by 160 votes.

In Baie d'Urfé the first real race there in years provided maria tutino with a bit of challenge.

Montreal West voters returned incumbent mayor Beny Masella with a 500 vote majority over Asher Waldman, who took 32 per cent of votes cast. Julie Tasker-Brown, Elizabeth Ulin, Colleen Feeney and Maria Tores all won their races to sit on council.

In Beaconsfield, David Pollock had chosen not to seek re-election. George Bourelle was elected with a 259-vote lead over Rhonda Massad.

For the first time since the 1970s John Meaney will not be representing the city of Kirkland. Having served as councillor and mayor, he was defeated by a mere 500 votes Sunday by Michael Gibson, who had been a councillor for 22 years.

Jane Guest was elected mayor in Senneville, defeating incumbent George McLeish 52 per cent to 47 per cent.

In Dorval Edgar Rouleau was re-elected via landslide to a third term in office: 85,.80 per cent of the 4,700 votes cast in the West Island suburb. Marc Barrette picked up 664 votes.

Pointe Claire had two newcomers vying to be mayor after Bill McMurchie chose not to run again. Morris Trudeau defeated John Belvedere in a close race.

Hampstead's William Steinberg was re-elected by several hundred votes.

On the South Shore voters chose stability. Paul Leduc was re-elected in Brossard with 12,929 votes to Louis Lemoine's 6,887.

Caroline St-Hilaire was easily re-elected in Longueuil with 87.3 per cent of the vote to Pardo Chiocchio's 12.7 per cent.

St. Lambert chose Alain Depatie with 69 per cent of voter support.

In Chateauguay Nathalie Simon cruised to victory with about 62 per cent of votes cast.

West of Montreal, in Vaudreuil-Dorion, Guy Pilon was re-elected mayor with 84 per cent of the vote. Voter turnout in the municipality sat at a mere 26.9 per cent, the lowest in the entire province.

The highest turnout in Sunday's municipal elections was in Rochebaucourt, a small town north of Val D'Or where 88.6 per cent of eligible voters cast ballots, although it only took 64 votes to win.

In Hudson, Ed Prevost was elected by nearly 76 per cent of voters.