Janet Gatehouse re-elected as Sorell Mayor

Janet Gatehouse fended off challenger Kristian Horvath to be re-elected mayor of Sorell, receiving 59.6 per cent of the vote.

Cr Gatehouse was first elected to the council in 2022 and became mayor in 2024 in a by-election after Kerry Vincent resigned following his election to Tasmania’s upper house.

“The 2022 election was a bit surreal because I was diagnosed with cancer pretty much the same day that I nominated for council,” Cr Gatehouse said.

“The community supported me a lot with that campaign and was absolutely delighted that I got into council.

“Then, in the by-election, I had no expectations and became mayor.”

Cr Gatehouse said that during the latest election, she felt more responsibility.

“I wanted to be that sane and stable mayor and manage that stability we achieved and are very proud of as a council.

“As far as the campaigning was concerned, I felt there was a bit of nastiness creeping into it this time that had never been present before.”

She said both she and Mr Horvath had their signs vandalised, while she claimed her corflutes were repeatedly taken down.

“There was an undercurrent of slight unpleasantness that we’ve never experienced before,” Cr Gatehouse said.

“I want to stop that because that’s not who we are as a community and it is not the future of this municipality.

“We’re not letting that nastiness creep in that’s infiltrated some of the other councils.”

The deputy mayor results are expected later today or tomorrow morning, and the final makeup of the Sorell Council might not be known until next week.