2004 New Brunswick municipal elections

Municipal elections in the Canadian province of New Brunswick were held on May 10, 2004. All 104 municipalities in New Brunswick elected mayors and councillors. Also held on that day were elections for regional health boards and district education councils.

These elections marked the end of three-year terms for elected municipal offices. Beginning in 2004, officials began to serve four-year terms, meaning the next elections will be held in 2008.

All municipal elections in New Brunswick are non-partisan.

Summary

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In each of the province's three major cities, the mayoral races were won by non-incumbents:

Other cities and towns also elected new mayors:

  • In Miramichi, John McKay won in a close three-way battle against Frank Trevors and Gerry Cormier. Arch Pafford, better known for founding the Confederation of Regions Party of New Brunswick, finished a distant fourth. There was no incumbent, as former mayor Rupert Bernard decided to (successfully) run for a seat on city council instead.
  • In Edmundston, Gérald Allain defeated incumbent Jacques Martin.
  • In Bathurst, Stephen Brunet defeated incumbent Jay Mersereau and three other challengers.
  • Former Oromocto mayor Fay Tidd returned to the post that she held in the 1990s by defeating incumbent Ross Giberson and two other candidates.
  • Clarence Sweetland defeated David Burrell to become mayor of Riverview. Former mayor Bruce Fitch jumped to provincial politics, winning as a Progressive Conservative candidate in the 2003 election.
  • Paul Duffie, a cabinet minister in the government of Frank McKenna, was easily elected in Grand Falls.
  • Raymond Cormier defeated incumbent Camille Belliveau in Shediac.
  • Jeff Wright was acclaimed in Woodstock, while Jean-Eudes Savoie was also acclaimed in Tracadie-Sheila.

A small number of major communities had mayors return to their positions:

Plebiscites

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Three communities held plebiscites on election day:

  • The City of Edmundston banned smoking in indoor public places by a margin of 74.1% to 25.9%.
  • The City of Miramichi voted to scrap the ward system of electing city council in favour of ten at-large councillors. The plebiscite passed 53.7% to 46.3%.
  • The Village of Belledune decided to keep its ward system, by a margin of 63.3% to 36.7%.

Races in major centres

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Below are the results of the mayoral races in selected cities and towns across the province:

Mayor

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Candidate Vote %
Brad Woodside 6,967 41.1
Joel Richardson 6,221 36.7
Les Hull (inc.) 3,415 20.2
Darcy Russell 338 2.0

Elected to city council

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Fredericton elects twelve councillors, each on the ward system.

Elected Ward
Dan Keenan Ward 1
Bruce Grandy Ward 2
Mike O'Brien* (inc.) Ward 3
Norah Davidson* (inc.) Ward 4
Walter Brown (inc.) Ward 5
Marilyn Kerton* (inc.) Ward 6
Scott McConaghy (inc.) Ward 7
Tony Whalen Ward 8
Tommy Jellinek* (inc.) Ward 9
Stephen Kelly* Ward 10
Cathy MacLaggan Ward 11
David Kelly Ward 12

* acclaimed

Mayor

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Candidate Vote %
Lorne Mitton 8,780 49.8
George LeBlanc 8,146 46.2
Craig McCluskey 703 4.0

Elected to City Council

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Moncton elects two councillors at-large, and two from each of four wards.

Elected Ward
Kathryn Barnes (inc.) At large
Pierre Boudreau At large
Norm Crossman (inc.) Ward 1
Stephen Boyce (inc.) Ward 1
Merrill Henderson* (inc.) Ward 2
Doug Robertson* (inc.) Ward 2
Brian Hicks (inc.) Ward 3
Steve Mitton Ward 3
Chris Collins* (inc.) Ward 4
Rene Landry* Ward 4

* acclaimed

Mayor

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Candidate Vote %
Norm McFarlane 15,342 60.2
Shirley McAlary (inc.) 9,199 36.1
Russell Duke 500 2.0
Charles Frees-Melvin 448 1.8

Elected to Common Council

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Saint John elects 10 councillors at large. Elected candidates only are listed below.

Elected Votes
Michelle Hooton 13,192
Stephen Chase (inc.) 9,336
Ivan Court (inc.) 8,470
John Ferguson (inc.) 7,603
Carl White (inc.) 7,592
Glen Tait 7,032
Christopher Titus (inc.) 6,857
Peter McGuire 6,815
Jay-Young Chang 6,544
Bill Farren 6,188