Bruce Reynolds to remain City of Perth Lord Mayor as counting continues in WA local government elections

Bruce Reynolds will continue as City of Perth Lord Mayor, while early figures from WA's local government elections show voter turnout is below what authorities hoped for.

Results from polls held across more than 100 local governments in the state began to filter through as counting resumed on Sunday.

Mr Reynolds — who had been acting lord mayor since Basil Zempilas moved into state politics — has held off five other candidates, including councillor Catherine Lezer and Viktor Ko.

The businessman previously told the ABC his number one priority was rebuilding the council's relationship with the state government, which became increasingly fraught under Mr Zempilas.

More new mayors

In Fremantle, incumbent Hannah Fitzhardinge has lost the mayoral race.

Results show the city's East Ward councillor Ben Lawver – who grew up in the United States before moving to Australia in 2013 – has taken her spot.

Deputy mayor of Cottesloe, Melissa Harkins, has also been promoted to the top job.

Cr Harkins served on council for eight years and was endorsed by outgoing mayor Lorraine Young.

She has beaten her only opponent Kevin Morgan, who led the town from 2008 to 2013.

The Town of Claremont voted to replace outgoing mayor of 16 years Jock Barker with local business owner Peter Telford.

Tony Natale is waiting to be formally declared as East Fremantle’s new mayor, beating his only other candidate Thomas Fitzgerald.

In Perth's north, a seven-way contest is still underway to take over from Joondalup's retiring mayor Albert Jacobs.

The candidates include former federal MP Ian Goodenough, who was ousted after losing a preselection contest for his federal seat of Moore.

Counting is continuing in a number of other key mayoral races including Mandurah and Cockburn.

Turnout a concern

Early figures from the Western Australian Electoral Commission (WAEC) show 29.7 per cent of postal votes were received, down from the previous elections in 2023 when voter turnout was 32.1 per cent.

In-person voting, which only covers six councils, was at 17.2 per cent this year.

A spokesperson for the WAEC said it would take until Monday to confirm the overall voter turnout for this year's election.

Voter turnout has averaged around 30 to 32 per cent in recent elections.

WA Local Government Association president Karen Chappel said a survey of councillors found 98 per cent of respondents did not support mandatory voting.

It comes after Local Government Minister Hannah Beazley said she would consider making voting compulsory and introduce four-year terms for councillors, up from their current two-year terms.

Controversial candidates

Several controversial figures vied for spots in councils across the state.

Among them was self-described "racist, sexist, democracy-scorning whites-lover" Stephen Wells, in the City of Busselton.

Mr Wells looks to have missed out on his bid for council, with the result still to be formally declared.

Town of Mosman Park candidate Samuel Croll, 20, is before the courts for allegedly performing a Nazi salute.

Further south in Albany, Tamara Frewen, one of several candidates running on a self-described "anti-woke" platform, has come under fire for comparing the local pride group to Nazis on social media.

Independent politician Aussie Trump, who was formerly known as Ben Dawkins, is among the candidates in the Shire of Harvey, but provisional results indicate his council tilt has been unsuccessful. 

Originally a Labor MLC, Mr Trump was expelled from the party after pleading guilty to 35 breaches of a domestic violence restraining order, related to his former partner.

He then switched to One Nation before being dumped from the party's Legislative Council ticket by party leader Pauline Hanson.

Suspended councils wait

In recent weeks, the debt-laden Shire of Coolgardie has been in the spotlight over "serious concern" regarding financial management, but Ms Beazley did not suspend the shire's council. 

While there are 139 local governments in Western Australia, voters in two electorates did not head to the polls this year.

The City of Nedlands council — including its then-mayor Fiona Argyle — was sacked in July and replaced with three commissioners after ongoing dysfunction led to a mass resignation, leaving it unable to operate.

In late August, Port Hedland's mayor resigned, leaving the minister with no choice but to install three commissioners to run the council as it was unable to function.

Voters in Nedlands and Port Hedland will be heading to the polls on March 28 next year.