It wasn't the result that he hoped for, but first-time mayoral candidate Cody Cacciotti was humble in defeat, as he finished fourth in the mayor's race with 8,066 votes (15.56 per cent of the total).
In the end, it was incumbent Brian Bigger retaining his seat with 14,684 votes, accounting for 28.32 per cent of the total vote.
Cacciotti, who himself admitted that he came into the race as a relative unknown in the Sudbury political landscape, said he was proud of the campaign that he and his team ran and the attention they were able to garner.
"It feels like it's been ages since we announced the start of the campaign back on June 11 at the Minnow Lake Legion, but I stand before you completely humbled by the amount of support I've received from the citizens of this city," said Cacciotti.
"It's been an amazing journey and I'm blessed to have had the opportunity to share it with all of you tonight."
Running as the youngest candidate for the mayor's seat, Cacciotti picked up momentum as the campaign drew to its later stages, with some polls showing him as high as second behind incumbent mayor Brian Bigger. When the final votes were tallied, it was Cacciotti in fourth, trailing 2014 mayoral candidate Dan Melanson in third, and the lone female candidate in the race, Patricia Mills in second.
Cacciotti was able to separate himself and was running with the pack of the most-touted contenders when election night rolled around, and was one of just four candidates who finished with more than 8,000 votes — Bigger 14,684, Mills 9,746, Melanson 8,673.
In fact, after Cacciotti in fourth with just over 8,000 votes, the drop off was a steep one with Troy Crowder coming in fifth with 4,279 votes.
"I think for us coming from a relatively unknown place and cracking into that true candidate group where we were right there right until the end, we're really happy with what we were able to do, being a relative unknown we were able to raise that profile," said Cacciotti.
"I don't think we could've door-knocked any harder, I don't think we could've done anything different during a debate or a meet-the-candidates night, I'm definitely happy with how things played out."
When questioned whether he'll consider running again, Cacciotti understandably says he's not ready to think about that quite yet and will take a few days to decompress and reflect on the race he had run.
He congratulated Bigger on his mayoral victory, becoming the first mayor in the history of the amalgamated Greater Sudbury to win a second term, and is hopeful for a progressive council that is able to move the city forward in a fiscally responsible manner.
"If Mr. Bigger is able to address some of the issues that we raised on this campaign then maybe there won't be a need for someone like me to run in the next election," said Cacciotti. "I think just being progressive in the way we're going to move this city forward, being fiscally responsible in terms of promoting these large scale projects. I wish him nothing but success, and at the end of the day if Mr. Bigger is successful then the city's successful."
