Nominations are closed across Windsor-Essex and Chatham-Kent, as the races get set to heat up in this fall’s municipal election.

Voters will have several option when they hit the polls on Oct. 27. In Windsor, 99 people have entered candidacy for mayor, council and school board. While not a record, it’s one of the largest pool of candidates to form in recent memory.

With the books closing at 2 p.m. on Friday, 12 people have entered the Windsor’s mayoral race. That includes Ernie The Baconman, Drew Dilkens, Timothy Dugdale, Robin Easterbook, Steve Gavrilidis, Larry Horwitz, Bruce Martin, John Millson, Raymond Poisson, Jaysen Sylvester, Mike Tessier and Ronald Van Dyk.

The closure of nominations coincides with Windsor city council entering lame duck status. This essentially means the city can’t approve the purchase of items that cost over $50,000, or vote on land acquisitions.

Each municipality in Essex County, along with Chatham-Kent, will see a contention for the mayor’s seat. In Leamington it looked like Mayor John Paterson would win his seat back by default, but at the 11th hour current deputy mayor Charlie Wright entered the fray.

To find out who’s running in your municipality and ward, you can visit our election’s page for all your voting needs.