When Windsor-Essex residents wake up on Tuesday morning, they'll have a new mayor in six communities.
Voters in Windsor, Tecumseh, Amherstburg, LaSalle, and Kingsville all voted for a change.
The results are still unofficial and need to be certified in each municipality.
In Windsor, incumbent Drew Dilkens went down in defeat to his main competitor in the municipal race, Fred Francis.
It wasn't even close. The three-time incumbent Dilkens captured 33.8 per cent of the vote compared to Francis's 47.6 per cent.
Dilkens conceded his defeat midway through the evening after Francis was declared the winner.
"It was really the honour of my life to serve as the mayor of the city," Dilkens told reporters after conceding the race. "Nothing will beat being the mayor of the City of Windsor."
Francis said he heard a lot from residents while campaigning and plans to act on those concerns.
"Change, affordability, getting rid of Strong Mayor powers, and bringing our downtown back to life were all huge factors at the door," he said.
Kat Pasquatch came in third in the race with 12 per cent of the votes.
Around the council table, four new councillors were elected.
Darcie Renaud, who came in second to Fred Francis in the 2022 Municipal election, was elected to represent Ward 1. Ken Acton will take over Ed Sleiman's spot in Ward 5. Sleiman decided not to run for re-election. Jeremy Renaud captured the vote in Ward 6, and in Ward 10, Mark Masanovich came away with the win after a hard-fought battle against Adam Ibrahim. Incumbent Jim Morrison won only 20 per cent of the vote.
Chris Holt returns in Ward 4. Prior to the 2022 election, Holt represented the ward which includes Walkerville. He lost that seat when he lost to Dilkens in the race for Mayor.
Frazier Fathers will return in Ward 2, a seat he won in a byelection last October when Fabio Costante left council to take on the CEO's position at the Windsor-Essex Community Housing Corporation.
Also returning in Windsor are Renaldo Agostino in Ward 3, and Angelo Marignani in Ward 7. Gary Kaschak fought back and forth for much of the evening against Kevin Racine, but ultimately won. Kieran McKenzie was re-elected in Ward 9.
In Essex
Sherry Bondy has won a second term as mayor after she won twice as many votes as her competitor Trevor Menard.
Rob Shepley was acclaimed as deputy mayor. They'll be joined by Katie McGuire-Blais in Ward 1, Kim Verbeek in Ward 2, Bill Baker and Ron Rogers in Ward 3, and Rachel Mills in Ward 4.
In Leamington
Hilda MacDonald returns for another term as mayor, her third, while Paul Thiessen was elected deputy mayor.
They'll be joined by new councillors Anthony Abraham, John Biekx, Bill Dunn, Heather Latam, Tim Wilkinson, Chad Robinson, and Mandi Quiring.
In Lakeshore
Lakeshore returned Tracey Bailey as mayor of the municipality. Kirk Walstead was elected deputy mayor. Ryan Lahoud won in Ward 1. He'll be joined at the council table by Kenneth Poisson in Ward 2, Ward 3's Mike Gruzka, Dave Gabriele in Ward 4, Ian Ruston in Ward 5, and Larissa Vogler in Ward 6.
In Amherstburg
Incumbent Michael Prue lost to Chris Gibb in the race for mayor.
The town elected William Petruniak as deputy mayor.
On council, Molly Allaire, Keith Boussey, Peter Courtney, Jen DeLuca, and Wes Ewer were elected.
In Kingsville
Kingsville had an upset in the race for mayor as well, with Mary Ellen Havlik beating the incumbent Dennis Rogers, who was hoping to win his second term.
Kimberly DeYong returns as deputy mayor.
Janice Durocher, Adam Edwards, Tony Gaffan, Debby Jarvis-Chausse, and Sheri Lowrie were elected to councillor positions.
In LaSalle
Michael Macri defeated incumbent Crystal Meloche.
Voters put their support behind Michael Akpata for deputy mayor.
They'll be joined in council chambers by Brad Krewench, Jeff Renaud, Anita Riccio-Spagnuolo, Mike Seguin, and Ivana White.
In Tecumseh
Another big upset of the night was the defeat of Gary McNamara in Tecumseh. After more than 22 years, Tecumseh residents have a new mayor. They elected Joe Bachetti. Bachetti served as the town's deputy mayor for 12 years. Before that, he served as a councillor for Sandwich South Township before joining Tecumseh council in 1999.
"We've set the bar very high over the course of many years," said McNamara. "I want to see that continue. The one thing I would say is that we have, by far, the best administration anywhere. I'd put them up against any other municipality across our region."
Darrin Drouillard won in Ward 1. James Dorner got the vote in Ward 2. In Ward 3, voters elected Chris Elliott.
Cheryl Hardcastle returned to politics in this election and won the seat for Ward 4. The former NDP MPP in Windsor-Tecumseh had previously held the position of deputy mayor.
Marissa Nabbout won in Ward 5.
In Pelee Island
The seat for Mayor was left open when incumbent Cathy Miller decided not to run again. David DeLellis won 213 votes to Jaak Purres 89.
