Richmond Hill Incumbents Lead Across the Board in Unofficial Election Results

Richmond Hill’s incumbent mayor and all eight sitting councillors lead their races in unofficial municipal election results posted Monday evening, pointing to another term of continuity at City Hall if the leads hold.

By City Desk

The figures posted at 8:44 p.m. show 7 of 21 tabulators reporting, with 36,717 votes cast and a reported turnout of 23.03% among 159,441 eligible voters. The count remains incomplete and the results may change.

Mayor and regional council

Mayor David West leads with 30,097 votes (84.18%), well ahead of Domenic Bardari with 4,546 (12.72%) and Holo Devnani with 1,109 (3.10%).

The race for Richmond Hill’s two Regional and Local Councillor seats also favours the incumbents. Godwin Chan leads with 24,847 votes (43.38%), followed by Joe DiPaola with 22,175 (38.71%). Challenger Marco Coletta trails with 10,260 (17.91%). With only three candidates competing for two positions, this race offered voters a different choice from the crowded ward contests, but the early results again favour continuity. These percentages are shares of candidate votes, not shares of individual voters, who could select up to two candidates.

The six ward races

The ward results range from commanding leads to tightly divided contests. Castro Liu leads Ward 3 with 85.88%, while Michael Shiu leads Ward 6 with 73.90%. But in Wards 2, 4 and 5, the incumbents have only about one-third of votes counted in their contests.

Ward	Leading incumbent	Votes	Share
1	Carol Davidson	3,162	44.16%
2	Scott Thompson	1,515	34.09%
3	Castro Liu	4,855	85.88%
4	Simon Cui	2,496	33.85%
5	Karen Cilevitz	1,665	30.27%
6	Michael Shiu	4,264	73.90%

Crowded ballots, divided votes

In Ward 4, Simon Cui leads with 33.85%, followed by Danny Yoon (29.45%) and Rose Weinberg (26.99%). In Ward 2, Scott Thompson has 34.09%, ahead of Tom Muench (25.02%), Muhammad Kermalli (19.13%) and Sigmund Lee (18.52%).

In Ward 1, Carol Davidson leads with 44.16%, followed by Catherine Dell’Erba (33.21%) and Giovanni Nardone (20.29%). These contests illustrate how first-past-the-post elections can produce winners without majority support when votes are spread among several candidates.

Ward 5’s unexpected showing

In the eight-candidate Ward 5 contest, Karen Cilevitz leads with 1,665 votes (30.27%), followed by Richard Rupp with 1,151 (20.92%) and Yuliya Benedziktavich with 903 (16.42%).

Benedziktavich’s result stands out to Strong Richmond Hill. She did not appear at the candidate events or debates we followed and did not respond to our email outreach or podcast interview invitations. Her showing suggests that public forums and interviews are not the only ways candidates reach voters. It does not establish how individual voters learned about her or why they supported her.

Continuity, with questions still to answer

Across Richmond Hill, every incumbent leads in this partial tally. That contrasts briefly with neighbouring Mississauga, where the mayoral contest has seen a challenge to established leadership. But Richmond Hill’s own numbers tell the immediate local story: some substantial leads, several competitive multi-candidate races and an incomplete turnout picture.

If these results hold, the next council will confront familiar questions about housing, infrastructure costs, municipal finances, transportation and street safety. The election decides who will make those decisions, not how those issues will be resolved.

Source: City of Richmond Hill election results, unofficial figures last updated Oct. 26, 2026, 8:44 p.m. (7 of 21 tabulators reporting). This story will need updating when the City posts a complete count.