Hey you voters in Avalon, Notting Hill, Fallingbrook South and Summerside, election season ain’t over yet. Now that Stephen Blais has been elected to replace Marie-France Lalonde at Queen’s Park, a by-election will have to be held to find his replacement in Cumberland Ward within the next 81 days.

According to the Ontario Municipal Act, city council must declare Blais' seat vacant at their next meeting which doesn't take place until March 26. At that time, they must decide between appointing someone to fill his seat or calling a by-election within 60 days of the meeting. With two years still left in the current term, a by-election is a certainty.

The last time a by-election was held in these parts was in 2005 when Bob Monette was elected to replace Herb Kreling in Orléans Ward after Kreling was appointed a justice of the peace. At that time, seven other people were in the running, including former public school board trustee Sheryl MacDonald. Monette won by 860 votes. Voter turnout was a shade under 24 per cent. It won't be much higher for the Cumberland Ward by-election.

With city council expected to set a date for the vote sooner rather than later, several hopefuls are already waiting in the wings including Catherine Kitts, who finished second to Matt Luloff in the 2018 municipal election in Orléans Ward; Robert Paiement, who is a former executive director of Team Ottawa-Orléans and one-time special assistant to former Ottawa-Orléans MPP Phil McNeely; and Pat Uguccioni, who is the current managing editor of the Community Voice newspapers.

A number of other names have been rumoured to be considering taking a shot at the job, including former Orléans Chamber of Commerce executive director Jamie Kwong and community activist Rachel Decoste, but both have since said they don't plan to run.

There will likely be others who will throw their hat into the ring, but the big three for now are Kitts, Paiement and Uguccioni.

Of the three, Kitts is the only one who lives in the riding. Paiement is a resident of Queenswood Heights and Uguccioni lives in Convent Glen.

Not that it matters, the last two Cumberland Ward councillors didn't live in the ward – at least not when they ran. Blais lived on Fortune Drive in Convent Glen when he was first elected (he later moved to Avalon) and Jellet lived in Fallingbrook.

Kitts, who is a former editor of this paper, has the advantage of having run a successful campaign in the 2018 municipal election. She ended up finishing second to Luloff by just 264 votes in a 17-horse race. Her other advantage is that she is has a personal connection to the Bakker family in Navan. That connection could get her 200-300 votes alone.

Robert Paiement has deep connections in the francophone community in Sarsfield and Vars as well as a network of friends in the business community. His links to the Liberal establishment in Orléans should help him as well.

Uguccioni is probably the most knowledgeable of the trio when it comes to the issues and the inner workings of municipal government, having once worked in the communications department at City Hall.

At the end of the day, the difference between winning and losing will come to the holy triumvirate of running a municipal election campaign – time, money and volunteers. What you lack in one you must make up for with the other two.

Since the campaign will likely be limited to 30-45 days, having the necessary free time to go door-to-door and meet as many people as possible will be key, but not as key as having a dedicated group of volunteers, especially on voting day.

Since the voter turnout will likely be around 25 per cent, it will be paramount for the candidates to identify their supporters and make sure they get to the polls and that takes volunteers.

Between Kitts, Paiement and Uguccioni, Kitts is likely to have the greatest number of volunteers thanks to her network of friends and her experience in the last election. Paiement should have no problem recruiting volunteers as well and Uguccioni cannot be under-estimated, he’s been around too long.

Keep in mind, I’m basing this all on rumours. The only one I've heard from firsthand is Kitts. The idea of having two newspaper people running against each other is intriguing, especially to another newspaper person. The only thing that would be more intriguing would be if three newspaper people were running... naawh.

(If you wish to comment on this or any other View Point column please write to Fred Sherwin at fsherwin@orleansstar.ca)