Elections Calgary says a recount has confirmed Jeromy Farkas as the city’s new mayor. The recount was requested by the runner-up, Sonya Sharp, since Farkas had won by less than 600 votes in the Oct. 20 election.
The recount, conducted on Oct. 27 with results released on Oct. 28, showed Farkas beat Sharp out by a larger margin than in the first count, where Elections Calgary had Farkas ahead by 583 ballots. The recount showed he surpassed her by by 616 votes.
Calgary’s incumbent mayor, Jyoti Gondek, came in third place with 71,466 votes.
About 39 percent of the 896,042 eligible voters cast a ballot, according to Elections Calgary.
The win is a political comeback by Farkas, who ran against Gondek in the 2021 mayor race. He served as a city councillor for Ward 11 from 2017 to 2021. He is also the first candidate to unseat an incumbent mayor since 1980.
Farkas said that he had reached out to Sharp after the recount.
“I reached out to Coun. Sonya Sharp and congratulated her and her team on a strong campaign,” he said in a statement. He added that he hoped Calgarians would “continue to benefit from her commitment to public service.”
“Let’s get to work,” he said.
Farkas and the members of Calgary’s city council will be sworn in on Oct. 29. The council includes four incumbents and 10 new faces.
Sharp previously said she was requesting a recall to “ensure the accuracy of the election outcome.”
She added that the “razor-thin margin of victory” meant it was important to review and double-check that “appropriate processes were followed, and the count is accurate.”
Sharp said her request was not a criticism of election workers. She said they faced challenges due to new procedures mandated by legislation, which included hand-counting ballots.
Sharp added that she would be happy to accept the outcome of the review.
“The final word of our citizens is what matters most in local government.”
