Edmonton Votes: Wards 1, 2, 3 and 4

The four wards of north and west Edmonton were expected to see some of the most dramatic changeovers this election, with two multi-term councillors stepping down to be replaced by city council newcomers.

You can find out more about each city ward here.

Ward 1

Three-term city councillor Linda Sloan, who has represented the ward since 2004, retired this year, leaving the field open for six council hopefuls.

Andrew Knack, in his third race for city council, was strongly favoured to win from the outset, taking an early lead and winning with 7,492 votes.

Knack was moved to tears as his supporters cheered him on before his acceptance speech, saying this campaign was years in the making. He said he ran a campaign all about engagement, saying he knocked on manydoors along the way.

"I'm overwhelmed, I'm full of happiness. I can't believe it, we put in years of hard work building this campaign., he said.

Ward 2

Ward 2was open after Kim Krushell, first elected in 2004, opted not to run for a fourth term this year.

Bev Esslinger (a former Edmonton School Boardtrustee and chairwoman), Ted Grand and Don Koziak had the highest profile going into Mondays election.

Esslinger had a strong start, with Koziak in second early in the evening. She closed out the evening with 4,553 votes at polls closed.

She will be the only woman oncity council this term, the first time since 1971.

As CBCs Kristina Partsinevelos reported, there was some controversy earlier in the evening as Ward 1 ballots were mistakenly given out at St. Marks High School a Ward 2 voting station. However, elections officials say the error was corrected quickly.

Ward 3

Current councillor Dave Loken had a tight race tonight against David Dodge, a long-term community volunteer and board member of the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues.

The two were involved in a tight race with Loken winning by only 501 votes, according to unofficial results.

Ward 4

Ed Gibbons will return as city councillor representing Ward 4, entering into his fifth term on city council.