Politics · Canada · 1 hr ago
Rishi Sharma leads Saanich mayoral race as votes are counted
Rishi Sharma is leading Saanich’s mayoral race in the municipal election in British Columbia.
By 11 p.m., he had 14,198 votes, or 45.66 per cent, compared with Zac de Vries’s 12,121 votes, or 38.98 per cent.
Only 24 of 29 tabulators had been counted, so the results were not yet complete.
CHEK News projected Sharma would win, but he said he was staying cautious because he lost his 2022 mayoral race by 10 or 11 votes after leading.
Voters also chose eight council members, and eight candidates were leading in the council count at 11 p.m.
The final count will determine who leads Saanich; the available updates do not say when it will be complete.
Rishi Sharma was leading the race for Saanich mayor as election-night votes were counted on Oct. 17.
At 11 p.m., he had 14,198 votes, or 45.66 per cent, with 24 of 29 tabulators counted.
Zac de Vries was second with 12,121 votes, or 38.98 per cent.
CHEK News projected Sharma would win, while Sharma said he was staying cautious because he had previously lost after leading.
Four candidates were running for mayor, and 27 candidates were contesting eight council seats.
- Who
- Rishi Sharma was leading the mayoral race, ahead of Zac de Vries, Karen Harper and Robin Morton Stanbridge.
- What
- Votes were being counted in the Saanich municipal election, and CHEK News projected Sharma would win the mayor’s seat.
- When
- Election night was Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026. At 11 p.m., 24 of 29 tabulators had been counted.
- Where
- Saanich, British Columbia.
- Why
- Not stated
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Polls closed in the Saanich municipal election.
Saanich News reported that all five Save Our Saanich council candidates were leading the polls.
CHEK News reported Sharma had 14,198 votes and 24 of 29 tabulators had been counted.
- Sharma
- 14,198 votes, or 45.66 per cent, at 11 p.m.
- Zac de Vries
- 12,121 votes, or 38.98 per cent, at 11 p.m.
- Tabulators counted
- 24 of 29 at 11 p.m.
- Mayoral candidates
- 4
- Council seats
- 8 seats contested by 27 candidates
3 sources
What people are saying
I want to stay calm and reserved because last time I was in the lead when I ran in 2022. I was in the lead the entire way and then it was the 10 votes or the 11 votes that I had lost by,
If we are successful, I want to immediately have a large open house (and) bring in all of the councillors so they can experience… real, honest conversations with individuals and then take that feedback to move forward.
It’s gonna be close so we’re watching carefully,
The energy is great,