Mayerthorpe voters await unofficial results in 2025 municipal election

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The polls in this year’s municipal election closed at 8 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 20.

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Mayerthorpe residents voted for mayor, town council and two school trustees for the Northern Gateway Public Schools board.

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Unofficial results

Mayor of Mayerthorpe

Janet Jabush – TBA 

A.J. Malcolm – TBA

Donovan Murray – TBA

Town council (six seats)

Rick Armstrong – TBA

Pat Burns – TBA 

Bridgette Campbell – TBA 

James Mason – TBA

Kyler Mason – TBA 

Annette Pedersen – TBA 

Esther Sonnenberg – TBA 

Becky Wells – TBA

Northern Gateway Public Schools (two seats)

Brenda Doherty – TBA

Deb Koloski – TBA

Sandy Morton – TBA

Candidates campaigned, participated in forum

Mayerthorpe voters saw a three-way race for mayor this year.

Incumbent Janet Jabush has served as Mayor of Mayerthorpe since March 2019 and is hoping to secure a third term.

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She joined town council in 2017 before being acclaimed to the mayoralty, and she was re-acclaimed as mayor in 2021.

Jabush told the Mayerthorpe Freelancer back in January she was running again.

“I’ve started a lot of things in my seven-and-a-half years on council, and there’s a few of them that I want to see through to the end,” Jabush told the Freelancer at the time.

“And there’s lots of stuff going on in town that I’m really excited about, and I’d like to keep my finger on the pulse of that going forward.”

Jabush cited continued work on economic development, the Social Impact Lab studying Mayerthorpe’s social needs and main street improvement as examples.

Meanwhile, A.J. Malcolm, Mayerthorpe Co-op Food Store manager, is running for the mayor’s seat. If elected, he would be new to town council.

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“There are some concerns and challenges that I feel I can help with,” Malcolm told the Mayerthorpe Freelancer in September.

“For a lot of it, as something as simple as being present at community events and making sure that you’re a face for the community.”

He said he believes that the mayor could be more visible and there should be more awareness of the mayor’s activities than there currently is.

Malcolm named community trust and “bringing in new business opportunities” as the most important issues facing Mayerthorpe.

Donovan Murray is the third candidate for mayor.

“I decided to run because I believe that I can help make a difference as a young adult,” Murray, 32, told the Freelancer in September.

“I believe that more young people need to step up to the plate.”

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Murray said he is currently a Whitecourt IGA manager and previously worked at the Mayerthorpe Co-op.

In his opinion, an important issue is that Mayerthorpe should be seen as more than “a retirement town.”

“I see it as a really good community that has room to grow,” Murray said. “We need to make it so younger people have a chance to come to Mayerthorpe, with housing and the ability to have and grow a family.”

A candidates forum was held by Our Mayerthorpe Community Association (OMCA) in early October.

Mayerthorpe’s town council was previously acclaimed in the 2017 and 2021 municipal elections. The last time Mayerthorpe voters cast ballots for town council was during a 2019 byelection.

bquarin@postmedia.com

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