Dr. Jonathan Kerr won the 2021 by-election to fill an open seat on the Comox Town Council.

Kerr received 1,134 of the total 2,100 votes cast or 54.0 percent. The closest competitor was Steve Blacklock who received 807 or 38.4 percent. Don Davis finished with 111 votes or 5.3 percent and Judy Johnson had 46 votes or 2.2 percent.

The by-election became necessary when councillor Pat McKenna resigned earlier this year to relocate to Nova Scotia. McKenna had endorsed Kerr for the position. Three other sitting council members had also endorsed Kerr: Alex Bissinger, Nicole Minions and Stephanie McGowan.

Kerr, who had the support of a local political action committee called Comox Greens, had been criticized for his association with what looked like the BC Green Party. But throughout the campaign, Kerr maintained that he and his supporters were only linked by a set of globally recognized “green values,” and that he was not bringing provincial party politics to local government.

There were rumours and misinformation disseminated about Kerr during the campaign, including an anonymous attack ad in the local newspaper.

In other election news, the Denman and Hornby island voters overwhelmingly approved a referendum to create a Comox Valley Regional District service that will finance and partner with firms to construct high-speed fibre optic internet infrastructure to the islands. The final official vote was 1,182  in favour to 81 opposed.

Decafnation will have more on the results of the special elections in the coming days.