Reid Hamer-Jackson is the next mayor of Kamloops after the Oct. 15, 2022, election.

(LEVI LANDRY / iNFOnews.ca)

Reid Hamer-Jackson is the new mayor of Kamloops.

Hamer-Jackson received 7,298 votes or 31.6% of the ballots cast.

Dieter Dudy managed second place with 24.4% of the vote, Sadie Hunter got 19.8%, Arjun Singh got 12.7% and Ray Dhaliwal came in last at 11.3%.

There were five people in the running including three sitting councillors, but Hamer-Jackson pulled ahead of the incumbents in a tight race. He ran on a platform focused on public safety and homelessness, ousting his experienced competition.

For council, three incumbents managed to keep their seats: Mike O'Reilly, Dale Bass and Bill Sarai.

New councillor Katie Nuestaeter got the most votes with 11,583. She'll be joined by Kelly Hall, Margot Middleton and Stephen Karpuk on council, along with Nancy Bepple who has previously been on council, but has not run in recent years.

O'Reilly and Karpuk watched as the results came in in city council chambers tonight, Oct. 15.

"From what I see from the eight people that were elected, one of the common themes amongst all the candidates were that they wanted to work as part of a team, so that makes me really excited," O'Reilly said. "I'm very excited. We did lose two-and-a-half years, as far as I'm concerned, due to COVID. So I look forward to moving the city forward on this term."

He said concerns over social issues were heard "loud and clear" along the campaign trail this year, but there are "99 other things" the City will manage, he added.

"Really what we saw reflected today is no different than what we heard on the streets," he said of the Saturday night results, largely referring to Hamer-Jackson's win.

— This story was updated at 9:45 p.m., Oct. 15, 2022, to add more results and comment.

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