Municipal election kicks off with hotly contested races in Windsor
The nomination period for the municipal election has closed, with dozens of candidates in Windsor putting their names in for a chance to serve on council.
According to the City of Windsor website, there are 56 candidates registered across all 10 wards and in the mayoral race, 11 of whom will ultimately be chosen to serve on council.
Four people filed their nomination papers on the final day before the 2 p.m. deadline.
Seven people registered in the mayoral race, but according to municipal watchers, two people stand out from the rest of the field: incumbent mayor, Drew Dilkens and two-term Ward 4 Coun. Chris Holt, with issues like housing, the new hospital and budgeting priorities likely to take centre stage.
“You've got two diametrically opposed views there,” says Daniel Ableser, a regular commentator on municipal politics, who says it will be a showdown of suburban policy versus urban policy.
Doug Sartori, a contributor to weekly podcast ‘Rose City Politics’ calls Holt’s mayoral campaign the most serious since the 2003 election, which saw Bill Marra square off against eventual winner, Eddie Francis.
“That's a long time. This is really going to be an opportunity, I think for people to think about the direction of the city to think about the agenda,” says Sartori. “Do we want to go with the current mayor, as it has been for the past eight years and make a decision as to whether they want to continue in that direction, or chart a new course for the city.”
Eight incumbent councillors are seeking re-election, with open seats in Ward 3 and Ward 4, where Rino Bortolin and Chris Holt are not running for their respective ward seats.
While it’s a long campaign and anything can happen, council watchers believe the tightest races will be in those two wards, where a handful of people will compete for the open seats.
Other wards to watch are wards 1 and 8, where the incumbent will only face one challenger.
Fred Francis is the Ward 1 incumbent, facing off against Darcie Renaud.
Gary Kaschak is the Ward 8 incumbent, facing off against Gemma Grey-Hall, a re-match of sorts from the recent provincial election where Kaschak ran for the Liberals and Grey-Hell ran for the New Democrats i Windsor-Tecumseh.
“In both of those cases, we have a relatively popular incumbent who is facing a strong challenge from someone who's run before, someone who has experience and can represent a serious challenge to them,” Sartori says. “The reason that a head to head race against an incumbent is so special is that with fewer people on the ballot, with only two people on the ballot, that race really becomes a referendum on the performance of the councillor.”
Ableser says there will be scrutiny placed on the incumbents, who may have a slight advantage due to name recognition, but will be forced to defend their records.
“A one on one race always has the potential to be an upset because there's nowhere else to go for the people that want to vote against the incumbent. There's only one place to go,” Ableser says.
The election is scheduled for Oct. 24, 2022.
WHO’S RUNNING?
MAYOR
- Benjamin Danyluk
- Aaron Day
- Drew Dilkens
- Matthew Giancola
- Chris Holt
- Ernie Lamont
- Louis Vaupotic
WARD 1
- Fred Francis
- Darcie Renaud
WARD 2
- Fabio Costante
- Myriam Faraj
- Sam Romano
- Chris Soda
WARD 3
- Renaldo Agostino
- Katherine Cameron
- Helmi Charif
- Angela Fitzpatrick
- Nick Kolasky
- Kennedy Mangera
- James McCarte
- Cynthia Van Vrouwerff
- Brian Yeomans
WARD 4
- Giovanni "John" Abati
- Edy Haddad
- Gregory Heil
- Matt Marchand
- Mark McKenzie
- Jake Rondot
- Kristen Siapas
- Patrick Sutherland
WARD 5
- Ken Acton
- Alessandro Didone (Alex)
- Caitlyn Desmarais
- Ed Sleiman
- Currie Soulliere
- Richard St. Denis
WARD 6
- Jo-Anne Gignac
- Dylon Graves
- Ashley Lafreniere
- Brian D-H McCurdy
- Jeremy Renaud
- Beth St. Denis
WARD 7
- Sydney Brouillard-Coyle (Ney/Nem/Nir)
- Jeewen Gill
- Greg Lemay
- Angelo Marignani
- Sophia Sevo
WARD 8
- Gemma Grey-Hall
- Gary Kaschak
WARD 9
- Harinder Cheema
- Kieran McKenzie
- Dan Mokrzycki
WARD 10
- Paul Borrelli
- Walid (Wally) Chafchak
- Mark Masanovich
- Jim Morrison
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Lack of detention space could force CBSA to release detainees, internal memo warns
The Canada Border Security Agency is scrambling to find space to hold high-risk detainees that are set to be transferred from provincial jails in June.
BREAKING American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer denied bail after being charged with killing Canadian couple
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
BREAKING Allman Brothers Band co-founder and legendary guitarist Dickey Betts dies at 80
Guitar legend Dickey Betts, who co-founded the Allman Brothers Band and wrote their biggest hit, 'Ramblin' Man,' has died. He was 80.
Trend Line Anger, pessimism towards federal government reach six-year high: Nanos survey
Most Canadians in March reported feeling angry or pessimistic towards the federal government than at any point in the last six years, according to a survey by Nanos Research.
Police make arrests in grandparent scam that defrauded victims out of $739K
Ontario Provincial Police say they have 'disrupted' an organized crime group that allegedly used an emergency grandparent scam to defraud seniors across Canada out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Motion to allow keffiyehs at Ontario legislature fails
A motion to reverse a ban on the keffiyeh within Queen’s Park failed to receive unanimous consent Thursday just moments after Ontario Premier Doug Ford reiterated his view that prohibiting the garment in the House is divisive.
What does it mean to be 'house poor' and how can you avoid it?
The journey to home ownership can be exciting, but personal finance columnist Christopher Liew warns about the trappings of becoming 'house poor' -- where an overwhelming portion of your income is devoured by housing costs. Liew offers some practical strategies to maintain better financial health while owning a home.
Calgary man charged with manslaughter in death of toddler
Calgary police say Winston Campbell, 45, has been charged in the death of a two-year-old girl in 2022.
B.C. child killer's lawyer walks out of review hearing
The lawyer representing child-killer Allan Schoenborn walked out of his client's annual review hearing Wednesday – abruptly ending proceedings marked by tense exchanges and several outbursts.