Plante Ousts Coderre to Become Montreal’s First Female Mayor
- Leader of Projet Montreal was little known before she ran
- Coderre ousted from municipal politics after just one term
Valerie Plante
Photographer: Caroline PerronThis article is for subscribers only.
Valerie Plante won her bid to become Montreal’s first-ever female mayor by knocking off incumbent Denis Coderre, a career politician whose sometimes abrasive style may have cost him a second term.
The 43-year-old Plante got about 51 percent of the vote in Sunday’s municipal election compared with about 46 percent for Coderre, according to the city’s election website. The 54-year-old former federal immigration minister becomes the first incumbent not to win reelection in Montreal since 1960. After conceding defeat, he told voters Sunday night he would quit municipal politics.