Patrick Brown, Bonnie Crombie among winners in 905 mayoral races

Some new faces among victors in GTA races.

Therecord.com
Oct. 25, 2022

Controversial Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown sailed to victory Monday night, easily defeating lawyer Nikki Kaur, while former Ontario Liberal leader Steven Del Duca prevailed in a tight race for the mayor’s chair in Vaughan over Sandra Yeung Racco.

Voters in some 905-area municipalities stayed the course, returning Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie, giving another term to Oakville Mayor Rob Burton and once again electing the GTA’s longest serving mayor Gord Krantz in Milton.

Brampton

Even with scandal and controversy leading up to election night, Patrick Brown was re-elected as mayor of Brampton with an overwhelming victory.

“This was a win against the politics of negativity and mudslinging,” Brown told supporters at Speranza Banquet hall. “We ran a positive campaign and focused on what we have achieved in Brampton in the last four years and what we hope to achieve in the next four years.”

Brown was facing off against five others in his second mayoral bid after a term filled with infighting and discontent. His decision to run for mayor in March came on the heels of disqualification from the Conservative Party of Canada leadership race amidst allegations of financial irregularities. But that seemed to do little to deter voters who gave him a clear majority.

He faced tough competition from lawyer Nikki Kaur -- a former city staffer who alleged wrongdoing in Brampton -- and had the backing of political lobbyist heavyweights, Nick Kouvalis and Marcel Wieder.

Vaughan

Steven Del Duca was declared the victor in the mayoral race in Vaughan late Monday night after a tight race against long-time councillor Sandra Yeung Racco. Del Duca, who has lived in Vaughan for 35 years, had focused his platform on getting the city moving through opening up roads, working with regional mayors and the province to move truck traffic to the 407, and get more transit options to the city.

Del Duca came into the race following a failed run as Liberal leader in the provincial election, which gave the Doug Ford government a stronger majority than in past elections.

Yeung Racco, who had served on council for nearly two decades, has been a popular and vocal ward councillor.

Richmond Hill

Mayor David West, who took on the mayoral role after a byelection in January, reclaimed his seat in a race against two others, including regional councillor Carmine Perrelli. Perrelli was running for mayor even though he has ongoing lawsuits against many of his fellow councillors and the city.

Over the past four years, Richmond Hill council has made headlines for the disruptive behaviour of some councillors during meetings, which have been bogged down in hours of debate over procedural rules such as approving that meeting’s agenda. Council has also been mired in a host of integrity commissioner reports, staff departures and litigation.

Gord Krantz was re-elected as mayor in Milton Monday night.

Milton

Gord Krantz, 85, was elected for a historic 14th term as mayor -- the longest in Canada.

Krantz, who became mayor in 1980, faced a close challenge from popular regional councillor Zeeshan Hamid, but Krantz’s experience and name recognition came through.

Voters in one of the fastest-growing communities in the GTHA faced a difficult choice on Monday -- forced to decide between decades of experience with Krantz and a younger candidate pushing for modernization of the town and improved municipal services.

Caledon

Caledon’s new mayor is Annette Groves, who defeated former Toronto Region Conservation chair Jennifer Innis, in a battle waged over development.

A nine-year councillor, Groves championed the fight to preserve farmland by opposing Highway 413. Her platform focused on reducing heavy truck traffic and speeding through the community. Innis supported the 59-km GTA West highway that would connect Vaughan and Milton through Caledon.

Before the polls closed Monday, Groves praised the volunteers on her campaign team, who she said showed up every day since July.

Pickering

Regional councillor Kevin Ashe replaces Dave Ryan as mayor after defeating Janice Frampton and Bradley Nazar, who both vowed to resurrect a lobby registry that Pickering council rejected last year.

Throughout the campaign Ashe touted his 15 years of political experience and community roots but on Monday, he acknowledged that “Pickering is at a crossroads with the growth issues.” It has been declared a provincial growth centre with a transit corridor along Kingston Road, he said.

“There was my vision, which was moving the city forward We have to do it correctly, we have to do it in a balanced way and we have to do it in conjunction with the renewal of our infrastructure. I’ve heard loud and clear that people want to do it right and not do it fast,” said Ashe.

Markham

After 16 years as mayor, Frank Scarpitti won another term after facing a challenge from the town’s Deputy Mayor Don Hamilton, who accused the popular incumbent of being too “autocratic.”

Mississauga

Mayor Bonnie Crombie prevailed against seven registered challengers. Joe Horneck, who campaigned on fair taxes, defeated Ward 6 incumbent Ron Starr, who in the last term received a two-month pay suspension from council for keying the car of former Ward 2 councillor Karen Ras.

Rob Burton was re-elected as mayor or Oakville in a tight race against Julia Hanna.

Oakville

Sixteen-year Mayor Rob Burton narrowly defeated challenger Julia Hanna, ahead of 19-year-old candidate Jack Kukolic.

Iain Lovatt has been re-elected as mayor in Stouffville.

Stouffville

Mayor Iain Lovatt’s defeated four opponents, including Justin Altmann, the town’s former mayor, who was accused of workplace harassment in 2017 over a “CSI style” wall that drew lines between staff, residents and other councillors.