Peter Woolstencroft, a retired political science professor, gave CTV News a breakdown of the local mayoral races. Waterloo Woolstencroft called the race to become Waterloo’s mayor one of the most compelling in the area. Dorothy McCabe faced off against Shannon Weber in the last municipal election. McCabe ended up winning by just 331 votes. Both are on the ballot again. “We have a replay for four years ago,” Woolstencroft said. “Each of [the candidates] has a claim on why they think they should be mayor, so it is going to be a competitive race. It was competitive last time.” Each candidate has their own strength. “Shannon Weber did very well in the northeastern part of the city, and in Uptown Waterloo that was Dorothy McCabe’s stronghold, so each one had a strong area,” Woolstencroft said. “It was competitive then [and] it will be competitive again.” Jeyas Balaskanthan, Jamie Hari and Jerry Jiang are also in the running to become Waterloo’s mayor. Although the nomination deadline has passed, the City of Waterloo has not released a validated list of candidates. This article will be updated when that list is available. Cambridge Woolstencroft sees another compelling race in Cambridge with a sitting councillor taking on the city’s incumbent mayor. “Scott Hamilton, who is on council... he’ll have some standing in the community and a record. He’s challenging first time Mayor Jan Liggett.” Woolstencroft said it gives voters two clear choices. “They have a record, they have some clear differences, which we should not be afraid of, we should welcome them.” The candidates also in the running to be Cambridge’s mayor: Ryan Bolender, Tony Chaves, Ihtsham Haq, Brian Kennedy, Shahzada Jalal Khan, and Ken Roche. Kitchener Woolstencroft called Kitchener’s race a deep field with many serious candidates, but overcoming a three-term incumbent like Mayor Berry Vrbanovic will be challenging. “He’s been there a long time, and Kitchener is a large area,” he said. “There are some people with early declarations who strike me as serious, but what kind of footing in the community they have is uncertain.” The candidates hoping to unseat Vrbanovic are: David Alton, Wazhma Frogh, Wali Khan, Manikantan Nair, George Trihenea and Cindy Ward. Overview Woolstencroft believes the three mayoral incumbents will likely come first, or perhaps second, in their races. The real question is who has the best chance to knock them off their perch. “Sometimes people rise, maybe at an all-candidates meeting, they find a way to connect with people,” Woolstencroft said. “As we stand now, a day after the nominations closed, it’s not clear who the challengers will be.”
