Patricia Pearson has defeated seven other candidates to win the byelection for a seat on North Saanich council.
Pearson received 836 votes to edge second-place finisher Del Elgersma by 94 votes, according to preliminary results posted on the district’s website.
Dorothy Hartshorne, who lost the mayoral race to Geoff Orr last October, finished in third spot with 374 votes. Voter turnout was about 26 per cent.
Pearson, who works for Level Ground Trading, a fair-trade coffee company, said she first plans to get some sleep and spend time with her husband and two-year-old daughter before getting down to work.
“They’ve been just hanging on without me while I’m out door-knocking and campaigning,” she said. “So I just want to spend sometime with them and then get to work because first council meeting is on the 15th.”
Pearson said she’s looking forward to working on the official community plan, putting climate-change action plans in place and getting things happening on the Sandown lands.
“I know that residents have been waiting for that to get underway for a long time,” she said.
Pearson’s victory fills the seat left vacant when Joscelyn Barnard stepped aside shortly after the 2018 municipal election.
Preliminary results
Patricia Pearson — 836
Del Elgersma — 742
Dorothy Hartshorne — 374
Aurturo Huerta — 231
Tiffany Joseph — 167
Cam McLennan — 97
Scott McEachern — 29
Rosemarie (Romi) Bongers — 17