Jeff Kohler will be the next mayor of St. Thomas, according to the unofficial results the City posted after voting closed at 8 p.m. on Monday, October 26th. Kohler, a city councillor this term, received 7,407 votes. Aidan Frederick received 2,641 and Corey Janzen received 745. Kohler’s total was 68.6% of the 10,793 votes cast for mayor.
These numbers are unofficial, and the City says they stay that way until the City Clerk makes the declaration. As of early Tuesday, October 27th, the City had not yet posted official results, which it said were expected that day.
The mayor’s chair was open this year, because Mayor Joe Preston announced in February that he would not run again. Kohler was elected to council in 2022 with 5,253 votes, the third-highest total in that race.
Turnout was 29.91%, with 11,433 of 38,228 eligible electors casting a ballot. In 2022, the City Clerk’s official results showed 9,527 of 31,103 electors voted, or 30.6%. That means 1,906 more people voted this year. However, the list of eligible electors grew by 7,125, so the share who voted was a little lower. This year, voting was by internet and telephone only, from October 13th to October 26th.
Council results
These eight candidates were elected to council, with their unofficial vote totals:
- Steve Wookey, 6,292
- Lori Baldwin-Sands, 6,075
- Mike Brisson, 5,834
- Gary Clarke, 5,734
- Heather Jackson, 5,208
- Kyle Yates, 5,103
- Rose Gibson, 4,544
- Joe Docherty Jr., 4,050
Wookey, Baldwin-Sands, Clarke and Gibson sit on the current council and were re-elected. Brisson, Jackson, Yates and Docherty Jr. are not on the current council, though Jackson is no stranger to City Hall. She is a former St. Thomas mayor and finished second in the 2022 mayor’s race with 2,912 votes. Docherty Jr. also ran for council in 2022 and finished 11th with 2,140 votes.
Three sitting councillors were not re-elected: Jim Herbert with 3,959 votes, Earl Taylor with 3,946 and Joan Rymal with 3,023. The last seat was close. Docherty Jr. finished 91 votes ahead of Herbert, who was 13 votes ahead of Taylor. Close finishes are nothing new here: in 2022, the eighth seat was decided by five votes, 3,101 to 3,096.
The other council candidates were Kay Vaughan with 2,067 votes, Malichi Male with 2,040, Geoff Mountenay with 1,447, Sandra Hamill with 1,172, Steve Ogden with 1,138, Chris Deslandes with 1,080, Christopher Staddon with 1,021 and Gibbs Diobe with 508.
Six of the nine winners wrote their own profiles for LocVox’s Know Your Candidates page during the campaign. Kohler’s list of priorities included “More senior housing” and “Competitive taxes. Sensible growth. Wise spending.” Wookey wrote that he wants to “protect and expand parkland, trails, and open spaces.” Clarke wrote that he was seeking re-election “to complete the Yarmouth Yards project” and to expand Valleyview beds and the adult day program. Jackson listed “Better Roads & Infrastructure” and “A Responsible Waste Plan” among her priorities. Yates put “Improving our transit system” first on his list, and Docherty Jr. listed “Open governance.”
School board trustees
As of early Tuesday, the Catholic school board race was not decided. Stephen Huver and Mary Intven Wallace are running for one London District Catholic School Board trustee seat for Elgin County, and St. Thomas voters share that race with other Elgin municipalities. The City says school board results will be available once the other municipalities finish counting, and the unofficial sheet does not yet include Bayham or Central Elgin. The two public school board trustees for Elgin County, Melissa Knott and Bob Pate, were acclaimed in August and were not on the ballot.
The new council’s four-year term runs from November 15th, 2026, to November 14th, 2030.
Earlier coverage: St. Thomas Voting Is Open Until October 26th: What to Do If You Can’t Find Your PIN
Sources: City of St. Thomas 2026 Municipal Election Unofficial Results · St. Thomas Votes 2026: Election Hub · Province of Ontario 2026 candidates’ guide
By Anthony Zruna · About the LocVox Newsroom
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