Nominations for the Oct. 15 city election closed at noon today with 26 candidates vying for a seat at the council table.

Of those, three are seeking the mayor’s chair, with the remaining 23 vying for one of six councillor’s seats.

Incumbent Mayor Dan Curtis will be up against Wilf Carter and Mandeep Sidhu, who was defeated by Curtis in his run for mayor in 2012.

This morning inside council chambers, returning officer Norma Felker was on hand to receive the final nomination forms to be filed.

Christine O’Connor became the final candidate to formally declare her intentions, filing her paperwork just under 10 minutes before the deadline.

The 49-year-old had worked for the city for more than 25 years when she retired from her post as a supervisor in planning.

She said this morning she took some time to “mull it over” before officially throwing her name in the hat.

Serving on council was something she has wanted to do for some time, O’Connor said, nothing she now has the time and experience to take on the role.

The number of candidates running in this election for a councillor seat is up by just one compared to 2012, when 22 people sought those seats.

“I’m quite pleased,” Felker said of the numbers.

Many people had only picked up nomination packages over the last week, she noted.

It shows there is interest in municipal governance, she pointed out.

In past elections, there have been anywhere from 18 to 35 candidates pursuing seats on council.

Seeking another consecutive term as councillors are incumbents Dave Stockdale, who’s looking for a 12th consecutive term; Betty Irwin, seeking a third term; and Jocelyn Curteanu, who wants to serve a second term.

Former councillor Kirk Cameron resigned earlier this year over city manager Christine Smith’s firings without cause of long-time directors Brian Crist and Rob Fendrick.

Cameron did not put his name forward after he had indicated he was considering running again.

In a recent interview, he said he would be consulting with his family before finally deciding whether to submit his nomination papers.

Meanwhile, other familiar names from the 2012 vote will also be showing up on the ballots.

Six candidates who were unsuccessful three years ago submitted their nomination forms.

They include Sidhu for mayor, along with councillor candidates Roslyn Woodcock, who was only three votes away from the final sixth seat on council in 2012, Cam Kos, Patrick Singh, Helen Geisler and Garth Brown.

Other candidates hoping to gain a seat on council for the 2015 to 2018 term include Louis Gagnon, who was the first candidate to file his paperwork and who will be the first candidate for councillor on the ballot, Philippe Praprotnik, Micah Quinn, Jens Nielsen, George Arcand, Fendrick, Serge Michaud, Peter Jickling, Ken Giam, Francine Thieuerge, Mike Travill and Keith Ellert.

Also running are former councillors Samson Hartland, who served as a councillor from 2000 to 2003, and Dan Boyd, who was was a councillor from 1994 to 2000.

Candidates have until Monday at noon to withdraw from the race.

After nominations closed at noon today, Jeff O’Farrell, the city’s manager of legislative services, drew the candidates’ names out of a hat to determine exactly where their name will appear on the ballots.

For the mayoral candidates, the order will see Sidhu’s name at the top of the list followed by Carter and Curtis.

The ballot order for councillors will appear as follows:

Louis Gagnon
Helen Geisler
Rob Fendrick
Philippe Praprotnik
Mike Travill
Patrick Singh
George Arcand
Betty Irwin
Ken Giam
Micah Quinn
Roslyn Woodcock
Dave Stockdale
Peter Jickling
Samson Hartland
Dan Boyd
Jens Nielsen
Francine Thieuerge
Serge Michaud
Cam Kos
Jocelyn Curteanu
Keith Ellert
Christine O’Connor
Garth Brown