Election winners and losers: Andrea Horwath, Steven Del Duca and Patrick Brown win big

Plus a better Richmond Hill and four-term Toronto council incumbent unseated.

Thestar.com
Oct. 25, 2022
Kristin Rushoway

John Tory won big in Toronto, as did Bonnie Crombie in Mississauga -- no surprises there.

So did Patrick Brown in Brampton, despite being dogged by a number of controversies.

Two former party leaders -- the NDP’s Andrea Horwath and Liberal Steven Del Duca -- also eked out late mayoral victories with Horwath winning in Hamilton and Del Duca in Vaughan, just months after he suffered a crushing defeat there in the June provincial election.

Here are some of the other victories -- and upsets -- from Monday night:

WINNERS:

A Better Richmond Hill: This community group held rallies and urged local residents to turf three councillors they said have disrupted council and embarrassed the city. All three they targeted -- Carmine Perrelli, Tom Muench and Greg Beros -- were defeated.

Ausma Malik: The former Toronto public school board trustee won the council seat in Ward 10 Spadina--Fort York, becoming the first hijab-wearing woman to be elected to City Hall. The seat was up for grabs after two-term Councillor Joe Cressy announced he would not be running again.

Amber Morley: The community health promoter won Toronto’s Ward 3 Etobicoke-Lakeshore, denying incumbent Mark Grimes a fifth term on council.
Amber Morley, top, won in Ward 3 Etobicoke- Lakeshore.

Michael Thompson: The incumbent easily won re-election in Scarborough Centre, even though he is facing two charges of sexual assault and had to resign his role as Toronto’s deputy mayor. Bracebridge OPP laid the charges and Thompson will be in court there Nov. 1. His lawyer has said he will plead not guilty.

LOSERS:

Gurpreet Dhillon: The incumbent Brampton regional Ward 9 and 10 councillor was narrowly defeated. He had been asked to step down by council after the city’s integrity commissioner found he had sexually harassed and touched a woman while on official city business in Turkey. He denies the allegations, and has not faced criminal charges.
Nikki Kaur: The former Brampton staffer who raised concerns about allegations of wrongdoing at city hall -- and who was fired, then rehired -- lost the mayoral race to incumbent Brown, despite a number of ongoing concerns about scandals in the city under his leadership.
Nikki Kaur was incumbent Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown's biggest challenger.

Jennifer Innis: The regional councillor incumbent in Wards 3 and 4 in Caledon lost in a tough battle in her bid to become mayor, despite having served as the elected chair of the board of the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority. She lost to Annette Groves, a Peel regional councillor who campaigned on limiting development.
Mark Grimes: The four-term Toronto council incumbent lost in an upset to Amber Morley, who said he was not engaged enough with residents on a number of issues. Grimes had also been the target of Progress Toronto, an advocacy group.