Valerie Plante made history on Sunday night — she will become the first woman to take over the mayor's chair in Montreal.
The 43-year-old former community organizer captured just over 51 per cent of the vote, compared to incumbent Denis Coderre's 46 per cent.
Unknown four years ago, Plante made her mark in 2013 by defeating Louise Harel for a council seat, and then became leader of the Projet Montreal party at a convention last December.
She campaigned on public transit and mobility issues — her signature campaign promise was her so-called 'pink line', a proposed metro line running from Lachine to Montreal North, which she and her party insisted would be completed by 2028 at a cost of $6 billion. She also focused on families, promising to slash the welcome tax for families with at least one child, or a child on the way.
Coderre, meanwhile, was endorsed by all the major Montreal newspapers, but a series of controversies, including questions surrounding the number of tickets sold for last summer's Formula E race, dogged him in the dying weeks of the campaign.
In front of a jubilant crowd of supporters at the Corona theatre, Plante said this election wasn't about her but "about you."
She credited Montrealers for much of her victory, saying they "made history together," and extended her hand to the provincial and federal governments as well as to the business community.
"Let's work together," said Plante as supporters chanted, "Valérie! Valérie!"
Plante also spoke directly to the English community.
“My team is diverse and represents the various communities that make up Montreal,” she said. “I believe our city is stronger when we work together. I also believe we move the city forward when we work together. The Anglophone, the francophone, the allophone communities of Montreal have more in common than many people want us to believe.”
Plante said the real work begins now and that she'd need help from all Montrealers.
Plante said she was at once surprised but not surprised by her victory, saying she saw on the ground that her party's ideas resonated with Montrealers.
Speaking to reporters, she spoke of how honoured she was to be elected Montreal's first female mayor.
"My son, my 14-year-old just said to me, 'Mom, do you realize you will be in a history book?' And I was like, 'Whoa, that's true.' So it is a huge honour," said Plante to reporters.
Plante said after "many interviews," her first gesture as mayor will be setting into motion her plans to improve public transit, including starting talks with the STM and the provincial government.
During Coderre's concession speech, he wished Plante well, and announced that he would be leaving municipal politics, instead of taking a seat at city council.
“I’m very proud of my people, I’m very proud of my team, and I’m not going to shy away from what we’ve accomplished in the last four years,” he said.
Coderre became the first mayor in 60 years to be voted out after a single term. In 1960, Jean Drapeau was voted back in after he was defeated in 1957 by Sarto Fournier.
Coderre is expected to hold a news conference on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, several of Coderre's councillors and borough mayors also went down to defeat with him, including Cote des neiges-NDG borough mayor Russell Copeman, who was narrowly defeated by former Gazette journalist Sue Montgomery, running under the Projet Montreal banner.
In Ahuntsic-Cartierville, Harout Chitilian lost the mayor's job to Projet's Elimie Thullier. Borough mayor Anie Samson in Villeray-St. Michel-Park Extension was beaten by another Projet candidate, Giuliana Fumagalli.
In another upset, longtime Lachine mayor Claude Dauphin was defeated by another Projet newcomer, Maja Vodanovic.
In the city council races, longtime councillor for Loyola, Jeremy Searle, was defeated by Projet's Christian Arseneault. in Peter McGill, Team Coderre's Cathy Wong defeated incumbent Sean Shanahan, running for Vrai Changement de Montreal, and Jean Fortier, the former Coalition Montreal mayoralty candidate who dropped out of the race on Oct. 18, and who was running as just a councillor.
His name remained on the mayoralty ballot. He pulled in just over 1 per cent.
And Richard Bergeron, who founded the Projet Montreal party and ran for mayor three times under its banner before leaving to join Team Coderre, lost his city council seat to Projet's Michel Beaudry.
-CJAD 800's Shuyee Lee contributed to this report.