Carl Zehr has been re-elected as mayor of Kitchener and Brenda Halloran returns to the mayor's seat in Waterloo. Incumbent Doug Craig also returns in Cambridge.

In Woodstock though, an upset sees Pat Sobeski take the mayoralty from incumbent Michael Harding.

Meanwhile, Ken Seiling has been declared the Waterloo regional chair-elect, easily beating out Robert Milligan.

Voters in the City of Waterloo and the City of Kitchener also had some referendum questions to decide on.

Waterloo residents narrowly voted against fluoridation, with 50.3 per cent of voters wanting to see an end to fluoride in the municipal drinking water. However, without 50 per cent of eligible voters casting a ballot, the decision isn't binding. 

The cities were divided when it came to whether city councils should pursue amalgamation talks, with 65.4 per cent of Waterloo voters saying no to talks, while in Kitchener 65 per cent were in favour of talks.

While polls closed at 8 p.m., voting in Stratford continued until 9 p.m. due to the number of people still wanting to cast their ballots.

Voter turnout in Waterloo Region was up significantly compared to the 2006 municipal election, with increases ranging from 10 per cent to 42 per cent in the various cities.

Other big races

Right-wing juggernaut Rob Ford will take the top job in Canada's most populous city, defeating former deputy premier George Smitherman in a bitter, 10-month race to become Toronto's next mayor.

With 99 per cent of Toronto polls reporting Monday night, Ford took 47 per cent of the vote, compared to Smitherman's 35 per cent and deputy mayor Joe Pantalone's 12 per cent.

Meanwhile in Ottawa, another former provincial cabinet minister -- Jim Watson -- easily won the mayor's race against businessman-turned-politician Larry O'Brien, in a race dominated by transit and urban development issues.

Watson, who served as the city's mayor before a successful foray into provincial politics, took 49 per cent of the vote with nearly 98 per cent all polls reporting. Conservative incumbent O'Brien had 24 per cent.

By contrast, the race just west of the city in Mississauga has been decidedly uneventful, where voters simply watched to see how well 89-year-old Mayor Hazel McCallion performed in her 12th election campaign.

"Hurricane" Hazel typically doesn't campaign, put up signs or buy political ads. Her 31-year tenure as mayor is considered to be so rock solid, but a conflict-of-interest scandal appeared to put a dent in the 90 per cent voter support she's known to command.

With more than three-quarters of polls reporting Monday, McCallion had 76 per cent of the vote -- a decisive victory for any politician but not the numbers of old.

In Vaughan, ex-Liberal MP Maurizio Bevilacqua took the mayor's seat from incumbent Linda Jackson, who is headed to court to face Municipal Elections Act charges.

In all, there were 444 municipal votes in Ontario.

With files from The Canadian Press