Greater Sudbury Election 2018 has come and gone with incumbent Brian Bigger winning the mayor's race and becoming the first mayor to be re-elected in the city since amalgamation.
It was a largely negative campaign, with his 10 opponents taking aim at him and his record at every debate and much of the campaign literature they released. Bigger said his win was a sign that Sudburians reject that type of politics.
“To me what it what it means is that the people of Sudbury do believe that being nice is not a sign of weakness,” Bigger said, with his wife, Lori, standing by his side. “That bullying is never OK.”
Social media comments were particularly nasty this campaign, and Bigger praised his opponents for being willing to enter what has become a very tough field.
“I'm truly grateful for anyone who is willing to to enter the election races to make our city greater,” he said. “Patricia, Dan, Cody, you know, they all ran strong campaigns. But you know, I'm very happy with the result.”
Check out Bigger's post-results comments here:
Finishing second in the voting was the only female mayoral candidate, Patricia Mills.
Mills captured 9,746 votes, as opposed to Bigger's 14,684. Third-place finisher Dan Melanson won 8,673 votes.
“People voted for the future they wanted for Greater Sudbury,” she said. “It may not be what we want, but most of the people voted for what they want.”
Mills emphasized the need for unity after such a divisive campaign.
“You were either pro or anti KED,” she said. “You were either pro big spending or fiscal prudence. You were either pro or anti downtown.
“It's time for us to end the divide. We do need to come together and unite our city. There are so many challenges ahead, and what the city needs now is support and co-operation. We need to mend our wounds.”
Mills said she didn't consider that she lost, adding her campaign, which she claimed was the best in this election, accomplished a lot.
You can get all of her post-results comments below.
Cody Cacciotti ran a hard race in his first foray into municipal politics, coming in fourth in the voting, amassing 8,066 votes.
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."
You can view Cacciotti's concession speech here:
