EMBRUN – The Township of Russell had 18,372 eligible voters for the 2026 municipal election, but only 5,381, 29.29 per cent of these took the time to cast their ballot. Could you attribute this to apathy or satisfaction with the current state of affairs? It depends on your perspective.

Mayor Mike Tarnowski was acclaimed in what would have been his first “full” mayoral election, having taken over for then Mayor Pierre Leroux part way through Leroux’s term when he left for a full-time position in The Nation.

There is no deputy mayor position in Russell, the community working with four (4) councillors instead. For these four positions, five (5) people had registered as candidates, meaning that shortly after 8:00 p.m. on Oct. 26 there would be one disappointed candidate.

The four candidates successful in being elected, in order of votes received were as follows:

  • Dominique Bertrand, 4,100 votes (elected)
  • Lisa Deacon, 3,742 votes (elected)
  • Jamie Laurin, 3,450 votes (elected)
  • Charles Armstrong, 2,930 votes (elected)
  • Nick Gallagher, 2,092 votes

There was also an election for three Police Village of Russell Trustees, each of whom was acclaimed.

  • Julianne Bankley, acclaimed
  • Alison Brown, acclaimed
  • Stephanie MacMillan, acclaimed

Three school board trustee positions were also up for election, but in each case, there was only one candidate, who was acclaimed.

Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario, Sue Wilson

Conseil des écoles publiques de l’Est de l’Ontario, Lindsay Doucet

Conseil scolaire de district catholique de l’Est ontarien, Jacques Heroux