Voters make their choices in West Lincoln, Pelham, Grimsby and Lincoln

Elections were held today in municipalities throughout Ontario. Multiple authors are covering election results here in Niagara Region. This article provides an overview of the results in the lower-tier municipalities of West Lincoln, Pelham, Grimsby and Lincoln.

West Lincoln

The only mayoral result we knew for sure ahead of Monday night was in West Lincoln, where one-term Mayor Cheryl Ganann was acclaimed, as she faced no competition for the municipality’s top job. Ganann was first elected in 2022 and is a retired elementary schoolteacher, having spent six years on council before making the climb to the mayor’s chair. The township’s population is expected to double in the coming years, according to assessments from Niagara Region, so Ganann will have her work cut out for her managing the municipality’s growth.

West Lincoln has three wards. In Ward 3, incumbents Greg Maychak and William Reilly won their seats unopposed, as Ganann did. In Ward 1 and Ward 2, four and five candidates ran respectively, with one incumbent running in each of the two wards, which both elect two candidates. As of Monday night, the two leading candidates in Ward 1 were incumbent Jason Trombetta (844 votes) and newcomer Albert Witteveen (430 votes), while the two leading candidates in Ward 2 were newcomer Erin Shutten (506 votes) and incumbent Joan Chechalk (500 votes).

Pelham

In Pelham, incumbent Marvin Junkin (3,216 votes) narrowly won re-election by 15 votes, winning a third straight term. He beat out three challengers: Frank Adamson (3,201 votes), who came second to Junkin in 2022 and in 2026, Wally Braun (227 votes), and Randy Gananathan (138 votes). All of Pelham’s six incumbent councillors, representing three wards, chose to put their names forward to run for another term and were ahead as of Monday night.

As of Monday night, the leading candidates in Ward 1 were Bryce Brunarski (1,284 votes) and Kevin Ker (1,225 votes). In Ward 2, Brian Eckhardt (1,429 votes) and John Wink (1,266 votes) were ahead. And in Ward 3, Robert Hildebrandt (1,578 votes) and Shelle Niznik (931 votes) were in first and second, respectively.

Grimsby

In Grimsby, Mayor Jeff Jordan was re-elected (4,223 votes) to a third straight term. He beat out three challengers, including outgoing Regional Councillor Michelle Seaborn (1,191 votes), as well as candidates Simon Duong (3,690 votes) and Veronica Charrois (1,657 votes). Grimsby has four wards.

As of Monday night, the two leading candidates in Ward 1 were Margot Smeenk (2,206 votes) and George Bodnar (1,463 votes). In Ward 2, Lianne Vardy (1,655 votes) and Don Howe (1,458 votes) were ahead. In Ward 3, Jacob Bardadziej (1,399 votes) and Jennifer Korstanje (1,252 votes) placed first and second, respectively. And in Ward 4, Nick DiFlavio (888 votes) and Reg Freake (634 votes) were the top two vote-getters. In total, 18 candidates put their names forward to run for Grimsby council.

Lincoln

In Lincoln, Adam Russell was elected mayor by a margin of just 33 votes over Greg Reimer. Russell, a two-term town councillor, received 3,756 votes, or 42.5 per cent of ballots cast.

Reimer, a construction project manager and outgoing councillor, received 3,723 votes, or 42.1 per cent. Cheryl Keddy-Scott also ran for mayor.

Russell will succeed Mayor Sandra Easton, who chose not to seek another term after years in both the mayor’s chair and on council.

Lincoln voters also elected councillors under a new ward structure. Council voted to reduce the number of wards from four to three, with two councillors elected in each ward. There were four candidates running in Ward 1, three in Ward 2 and three in Ward 3.

As of Monday night, the two candidates with the most votes in Ward 1 were Dianne Rintjema (1,716 votes) and Carlo Filice (1,345 votes). In Ward 2, Tony G. Brunet (1,790 votes) and John D. Pachereva (1,743 votes) were ahead. And in Ward 3, Mike Mikolic (2,168 votes) and Shawn Stryker (1,857 votes) were in first and second, respectively, with incumbent Lynn Timmers trailing in third (1,775 votes).