Bruno Marchand is projected to win a second term as mayor of Quebec City.
As of 9 p.m., he had over 51 per cent of the votes.
As the incumbent mayor, Marchand had to defend his record against attacks from his opponents during the campaign.
Marchand promised not to raise property taxes above the rate of inflation. He also announced his intention to relocate the city’s incinerator.
He also defended the tramway project, which still does not have unanimous support in Quebec City.
The campaign has been difficult for Bruno Marchand’s main rival, former Liberal minister Sam Hamad.
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At the beginning of the campaign, his party, Leadership Québec, used images of Montreal to talk about traffic congestion in Quebec City.
Hamad also had to drop his candidate in Saint-Roch–Saint-Sauveur, Napoléon Woo, for controversial comments about homelessness.
Hamad also clashed with Respect Citoyens party leader Stéphane Lachance. The two men’s parties discussed forming an anti-tramway alliance against Marchand, but the alliance never materialized.
Subsequently, the two leaders accused each other of offering the other a position in exchange for withdrawing their candidacy. This could constitute electoral fraud under the Election Act.
During the campaign, Sam Hamad promised to axe the tramway project and replace it with a rapid bus transit system.
For his part, Lachance also had to deal with several controversies. The newspaper Le Soleil revealed that he had unpaid municipal taxes in Lévis, where he lives, and that his driver’s license had been suspended for failing to pay a fine.
In addition to being a fierce opponent of the tramway, the leader of Respect Citoyens promised more rigorous management of the city’s finances. He also wanted to reduce the number of city councilors from 21 to 15.
At the time of publication, Stéphane Lachance had won 19 per cent of the vote and Sam Hamad nearly 13 per cent.
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