Two young women voted mayors of Longueuil, Sherbrooke; Quebec City race ends in upset

Montreal -

Brand-new mayors are set for Longueuil, Laval, Sherbrooke, Gatineau and other Quebec municipalities -- including some that will have women in power for the first time -- after a wave of retirements and competitive races.

In Quebec City, meanwhile, a race that was called shortly out of the gate turned on its head by the end of the night.

• Read more: the full list of mayoral winners in on-island suburbs

LONGUEUIL

Catherine Fournier, the youngest woman ever elected to Quebec's National Assembly, declared victory as mayor of Longueuil shortly after polls closed on Sunday. 

"What an honour," she wrote to social media. "What a privilege. What a responsibility."

"I will do everything I can to live up to the confidence you have shown in me today. Let's write the rest together."

LAVAL

The successor to outgoing Laval mayor Marc Demers won easily with 41.5 per cent of the vote and two other candidates splitting most of the difference.

Stephane Boyer, a councillor in Laval whom Demers endorsed, was easily leading right from the start as polls closed. 

He was followed by Michel Trottier at about 25 per cent and Sophie Trottier at 24 per cent.

LISTEN ON CJAD 800 RADIO: The new mayor of Laval, Stephane Boyer

QUEBEC CITY

In Quebec City, outgoing mayor Régis Labeaume's successor appeared quickly victorious -- but after declaring a win, she walked that back, only to have what first appeared to be the third-place finisher surpass her.

Psychologist Marie-Josée Savard's team retweeted election calls showing her the winner as early as 8:30.

She had a strong lead out of the gates, followed by Jean-François Gosselin with 25 per cent and Bruno Marchand, a regional director for Centraide, closely behind Gosselin.

Two hours later, Marchand bypassed Savard, clearly winning the race by midnight -- but with a very slim margin, at 32.32 per cent to Savard's 31.86 per cent.

SHERBROOKE

Current city councillor Evelyne Beaudin won in a fairly close race, ending up with about 41.1 per cent of the vote over the 39.3 per cent earned by Luc Fortin, a former Liberal MNA.

The incumbent, Steve Lussier, won just 18.66 per cent of the vote.

GATINEAU

Gatineau also elected its first-ever woman mayor: France Belisle, who won with 29,734 votes or 42.83 per cent of the total. She is a former director of Tourisme Outaouais.

Another woman was a fairly close second, with Maude Marquis-Bissonette earning 26,159 or 37.32 per cent of votes.

Councillor Jean-Francois Leblanc came third with 16.32 per cent.

COTE-ST-LUC

After a bruising borough mayor race that got personal, with police investigating flyers distributed to attack one candidate, the results are in: incumbent Mitchell Brownstein is the winner with 62.22 per cent of the vote and 5,524 votes cast.

His challenger, David Tordjman, had 38 per cent. Turnout was 40.2 per cent, a little higher than Montreal's turnout:

LISTEN ON CJAD RADIO: Mitchell Brownstein won re-election in Cote St-Luc

TOWN OF MOUNT-ROYAL

New candidate Peter Malouf garnered 55.5 per cent of the vote, with 3,710 ballots cast in total, while city councillor Michelle Setlawke had 44.53 per cent.

The win represents a big change in TMR, where Philippe Roy has occupied the mayor's chair for years, announcing this year he would retire.

Malouf, a businessman who used to own the local sports centre, was born and raised in the town, according to his campaign profile. He was also longtime chair of Marianopolis CEGEP.

Turnout was nearly 50 per cent, higher than most municipalities.

BEACONSFIELD

George Bourelle won with 54.7 per cent of the vote and 2,858 ballots cast. Johanne Hudon-Armstrong had 45.32 per cent.

LISTEN ON CJAD 800 RADIO: Georges Bourelle wins in Beaconsfield

DORVAL

Longtime councillor Marc Doret won by a landslide, with 63.73 per cent of the votes compared to just 16.65 per cent that went to the runner-up, Giovanni Baruffa.

As in Laval's race, Doret was endorsed by outgoing longtime mayor Edgar Rouleau, who announced his retirement earlier this year. Doret told media he'd carry on with Rouleau's general approach.

KIRKLAND

Michel Gibson won easily with 83.75 per cent of the vote.

POINTE-CLAIRE

An extremely close race ended early Monday with Tim Thomas ahead by just 61 votes in Pointe-Claire, with John Belvedere in second place.

LISTEN ON CJAD 800 RADIO: Tim Thomas beat incumbent John Belvedere in Pointe-Claire 

SAINT-ANNE-DE-BELLEVUE

Incumbent Paola Hawa won with 54.6 per cent of the vote versus Francis Juneau's 45.43 per cent, in by less than 200 points, in a race where there were only 1,706 valid votes.

BY ACCLAMATION

Mayoral winners in many other municipalities near Montreal were acclaimed to their positions, including in Westmount, Baie-D'Urfé, Dollard-des-Ormeaux and Deux-Montagnes.