STRAIT AREA - Voters turned the page in dramatic fashion for this year's municipal elections, with all five Richmond County districts electing first-time candidates and a resounding rejection of both incumbents and previous council faces across the board.

In Richmond's District One, taking in southeastern Isle Madame, Shawn Samson took 438 votes, holding off fellow political newcomer Brandon Boudreau by an 86-vote margin. Incumbent James Goyetche and former councillor Rod Samson were well behind with 151 and 118 votes, respectively. 

Similarly, rookie District Two candidate Michael Diggdon had success against another former councillor, Gerry Bourque, who had served from 1985 to 2004. Diggdon rang up 523 votes to Bourque's 173, while another political neophyte, Carolyn Clackdoyle, finished third with 153 votes in the district covering western and northern Isle Madame. 

Richmond County's sitting warden, Brian Marchand, went down to defeat in District Three, which takes in Louisdale and the westernmost portions of Richmond County. Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC) instructor Melanie Samson defeated Marchand by 90 votes, with her 604 votes topping the ex-warden's 506. 

In District Four, encompassing the St. Peter's-River Bourgeois areas, council veteran Gilbert Boucher's 12-year tenure came to a crushing halt as Amanda Mombourquette chalked up 869 votes as opposed to Boucher's 284. Mombourquette, a former executive director of the Strait Area Chamber of Commerce and an innovation lead for NSCC Strait Area Campus, was subsequently chosen as Richmond County's new warden by her fellow councillors shortly after they were sworn in. 

The Richmond County sweep was completed in District Five, taking in the county's northeastern region, where first-timer Brent Sampson took 597 votes to eclipse the 223 gained by one-term councillor Jason MacLean, who also served as warden for a six-month period.

A familiar face took on a new position in the Town of Mulgrave, as two-term councillor Ron Chisholm became the new mayor by with a 122-vote margin of victory over Lorne MacDonald, who had served in the position from 2012 to 2016 before losing to Ralph Hadley. The incumbent mayor chose to step down after one term, paving the way for Chisholm's victory. 

Newcomers Krista Luddington and Crystal Durling, as well as incumbent councillors Tanya Snow and Bob Russell, were all acclaimed to their Mulgrave council seats. 

There was little change in Port Hawkesbury, as Mayor Brenda Chisholm-Beaton was re-elected to a second term by holding off challenger Archie MacLachlan, with the two candidates taking vote tallies of 1121 and 769, respectively. The three town council incumbents that chose to re-offer - Blaine MacQuarrie, Hughie MacDougall and Mark MacIvor - were all re-elected, with newcomer Jason Aucoin polling the second-highest vote count of any council candidate and joining the incumbents on the latest edition of Port Hawkesbury Town Council.

Rookie candidate Paula Hart, two-time candidate John Ouellette and three-time candidate Michele Tabensky all finished out of the running for the four Port Hawkesbury town council seats.