OTTAWA — Mark Sutcliffe has won a second term as Ottawa mayor, defeating progressive challenger Jeff Leiper and two other prominent candidates in Monday's municipal election.CBC News projected Sutcliffe's victory shortly after polls closed at 8 p.m., with the incumbent holding 46.9% of the vote as of about 9 p.m.Sutcliffe had received 48,358 votes, compared with 31,404 for Leiper, a city councillor who campaigned on a more progressive platform.Neil Saravanamuttoo was running third with 11,170 votes, or 10.8%, while conservative candidate Alex Lawson had 9,105 votes, or 8.8%.Sutcliffe's lead over Leiper stood at 16,954 votes, or 16.4 percentage points, with ballots still being counted.The result gives Sutcliffe another four years at city hall after a campaign that saw him face criticism from the left over his approach to municipal spending, policing and transportation.Sutcliffe, a former broadcaster and businessman first elected mayor in 2022, campaigned on keeping property tax increases between 2% and 2.5% over the next two years, lowering the monthly OC Transpo pass to $95 and hiring 350 additional police officers, paramedics and firefighters..He also promised $10 billion in infrastructure investments, repairs to Ottawa's 50 worst intersections and approval of at least 75,000 new homes by 2030. Leiper, who represented Kitchissippi ward for 12 years, offered a different approach to housing and public services. His campaign called for 1,500 new non-profit homes annually, more funding for community crisis-response services and improvements to OC Transpo.Saravanamuttoo, an economist, proposed giving each city ward an additional $1 million for projects chosen by residents through participatory budgeting.Lawson, a homebuilder who campaigned on lower taxes and municipal spending restraint, promised to freeze property taxes in 2027, eliminate paid on-street parking and cut development charges to encourage new housing construction.The election was widely seen as a test of Sutcliffe's record on affordability, public safety and transit after four years in office.Despite facing challenges from both progressive candidates and a more fiscally conservative opponent, Sutcliffe secured another term with a substantial lead over his nearest rival.
