Bruce Banman may have lost his bid to retain the mayor’s chair in Saturday’s municipal vote, but he was the favoured candidate among hundreds of Abbotsford youth who cast ballots in student elections.
Banman topped the mayoral poll, claiming 437 student votes, compared to 326 cast for Henry Braun, who narrowly won the actual election.
Twelve schools took part, with eight schools reporting results online at studentvote.ca.
Banman was the preferred candidate at Bradner, Dave Kandal, Aberdeen and Harry Sayers elementary schools, at Abbotsford Christian School’s elementary campus, and at Eugene Reimer middle school.
Braun narrowly won McMillan elementary and outdistanced Banman at Fraser Valley Adventist Academy.
The student-elected council was also different than the one chosen by eligible voters.
Moe Gill was one of four councillors who were chosen both by students and the general public. Les Barkman, Sandy Blue and Kelly Chahal also were elected both by the public and students.
Raji Buttar, who finished ninth in Saturday’s election, was the second-most popular council candidate for students. She was followed in the student vote by Daljit Singh Sidhu and Joe Singh Chahal, who dropped out of the election. Paul Redekopp rounded out the students’ preferred council.