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Stephanie MacLellan defeats Richard Norcross to become New Tecumseth’s first female mayor

October 29, 2026   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

Stephanie MacLellan is New Tecumseth’s new mayor.

MacLellan, who has held the position of deputy mayor for the past four years and was Ward 6 councillor for the previous term, defeated incumbent Mayor Richard Norcross by a large margin.

She received 61.8 per cent of the vote, compared to Norcross at 34.7 per cent.

During her campaign, MacLellan said the town budget and transparency when presenting a budget were a priority. She also came out against Strong Mayor Powers, saying their use is not democratic and she would never impose them if elected.

Third mayoral candidate Jaison Waldman received 3.55 per cent of the vote.

Marc Biss, who served as Ward 5 councillor during the most recent term of council, was elected deputy mayor.

Biss won with 75.8 per cent of the vote.

There were six incumbent councillors re-elected to council. Three of those races were very close.

In Ward 1, Chris Rapin retained his position on council, winning with 71.5 per cent of the vote.

Ward 2 incumbent Wendy Gabrek received a tough challenge, but managed to win with 51.8 per cent of the vote, compared to her sole competitor, Jason Shand’s 48.2 per cent.

Ward 3 had two new faces running for a seat on council. Tony Phekoo won with a slim margin of 52.7 per cent of the vote, compared to Laurie Mortimer’s 47.3 per cent.

Alan Masters easily retained his council position for Ward 4 with 77.9 per cent of the vote.

Ward 5 councillor Nicole Cox also had a big win with 75.1 per cent.

In Ward 6, Shira Harrison McIntyre was re-elected with a slim margin, defeating the runner-up, Kyle Warren, by just 20 votes.

Ward 7 councillor Andrea Jacks was re-elected with 54.3 per cent of the vote.

Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board Trustee Janice Hutchison was acclaimed.

In the Simcoe County District School Board Trustee race, Kelly Somers was elected with 54.4 per cent of the vote.

Across the province, 444 municipalities went to the polls to elect councils. Around 6,663 candidates vied for 2,800 positions, including mayor, deputy mayor, council, and school board trustee.

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