By defeating both incumbent Sandra Masters and former councillor Lori Bresciani, mayor-elect Chad Bachynski showed there was an appetite for change.

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Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but Wednesday wasn’t exactly a great election night for incumbents.

Perhaps this best explains — at least partly — how a political newcomer like SaskEnergy manager Chad Bachynski could, shockingly, became Regina’s new mayor by defeating both incumbent Sandra Masters and veteran former Ward 4 councillor Lori Bresciani.

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This isn’t how this was supposed to happen. Both had formidable (or as formidable as it gets in local municipal politics) machines behind them — especially, Bresciani.

Bresciani had one-time high-ranking Saskatchewan Party insider Jason Wall heading up her campaign. Hmmm?

She was endorsed by one-time popular Regina mayor Pat Fiacco, who seemed peeved at the last council’s incessant infighting and/or Masters not exactly carrying on his low-taxes, “I love Regina” legacy.

And, notwithstanding her denials, Bresciani seemed to be tacitly endorsed by shady, anonymous third-party groups with deep enough pockets to run billboard campaigns or conduct expensive telephone push polling.

They didn’t........

© Saskatoon StarPhoenix