Incumbent Marc Bureau maintained his strong lead in Gatineau's municipal election Sunday night, winning the mayorship. Unofficial results showed him holding 44.11 per cent of the vote with 30,929 votes.

His percentage of the popular vote just about equalled the vote held by two of his opponents. At 26.46 per cent of the vote, Aur�le Desjardins came second place slightly ahead of Tony Cannvaino, who had 24.42 per cent.

Bureau faced off against five opponents for the mayor's chair: Tony Cannavino, Aur�le Desjardins, Luc Desjardins, Roger Fleury and Richard Gravel.

After the last vote was counted, Bureau appeared in Gatineau city hall to make a statement to the media. He and his competition followed a long-standing tradition of municipal elections: candidates meet each other face-to-face and shake hands as the final results are called in the hall.

Big-buy projects the pivotal issue

Bureau ran his campaign on transparency, mentioning that under his tenure Gatineau became the first city in North America to webcast its council meetings and the only city in Quebec that opens executive committee meetings and preparatory caucuses to the public.

Just before the recession gripped the province, Bureau increased construction permits in Gatineau by 60 per cent, from $327 million in 2005 to $523 million in 2008, according to his electoral website.

He also invested millions of dollars into tax credits for industry, attracting companies to a language technologies research centre and reviving a tourist train project.

However, his big-buy approach to the municipality attracted criticism from his opponents. They said his free-spending ways were unsustainable given unfavourable economic conditions - particularly in the case of a large sports complex his government funded in Gatineau.

Bureau said the projects are stimulating infrastructure spending in the city and will provide civic value for the city's residents in the years to come.

Tight race takes place in Chelsea

For much of the night, the two candidates vying for Chelsea's mayor's chair ran a tight race with Caryl Green coming out victorious around 10:45 p.m. The newcomer garnered 1,337 votes against fellow rookie Liam Fitzgerald, who had 965.

Green and Fitzgerald drew lines in the sand over spending in Chelsea, particularly focusing their attention on a contentious $9.8 million community centre that only received a 53 per cent mandate in the municipality.

Fitzgerald said it was an example of needing more responsible limits on spending, and added she would get the city's pocketbook under control. Green countered that the centre, as well as the new fire stations and sewage system put in under Perras' watch, were necessary investments in the community.

In Cantley, incumbent Steve Harris handily won the mayorship again with 60.8 per cent of the vote. The nearby areas of Campbell's Bay, Fort Coulonge, Maniwaki and Shawville had yet to report results as of 11 p.m.

Unlike previous municipal municipal election, ballots were hand-counted in the municipal election race - an order from the Quebec Ministry of Municipal Affairs, which had trouble with electronic voting in Quebec City and Montreal in 2005.

Final election results are not expected until late Sunday night or early Monday morning.

Candidates jostle in other ridings

Only 38.5 per cent of eligible voters cast their ballots in Gatineau, representing roughly 72,000 people.

In Aylmer, Stefan Psenak said he would ask for a recount after losing the riding by only two votes to Frank Th�rien. The two newcomers had 1,788 votes and 1,790 votes respectively.

In Desch�nes District, Alain Riel garnered 81.59 per cent of the vote and was handily re-elected against Peter L. Despr�s.

Around 10:30 p.m., Luc Montreuil won his re-election with 56.85 per cent of the vote. His opponent, Serge Lefebvre, had 43.15 per cent.

Two ridings also saw acclaimed candidates, with incumbent Luc Angers taking District des Promenades and Patsy Bouthillette the lone candidate in Carrefour-de-l'H�pital District.

Some districts featured tight races, unlike the mayoral one. In Wright-Parc-de-la-Montagne, incumbent Patrice Martin battled to keep his riding against Jocelyn Blondin, a school commissioner. Martin won with 54.99 per cent of the vote.

Earlier in the day, Martin stood at the doorweay of Du Lac-des-Fees School - the site of a polling station - shaking hands and having chats with the voters as they made their way inside.

He said it had been a busy day there so far and he expected a high turnout in his ward.

Other tight races were sprinkled throughout the municipality. In Manoir-des-Trembles, Nycole Turmel was just barely ahead of Maxime Tremblay, with 48 per cent of the vote against 45 per cent.

At Lac-Beauchamp, St�phane Lauzon had 44 per cent of the vote against Jacques Robert, who had 40 per cent.

For complete election results visit election2009.gatineau.ca

With a report from CTV Ottawa's Vanessa Lee