Incumbents unseated, re-elected across the GTA after municipal election

Extended: Crombie makes speech after win Re-elected for another term, Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie thanks her supporters.

Polls closed across the city and the Greater Toronto Area around 8 p.m. Monday, leading to the defeat and re-election of a number of incumbents.

MISSISSAUGA

Bonnie Crombie has been re-elected mayor of Mississauga.

Crombie was first elected in 2014, taking over the position for long-time serving mayor Hazel McCallion. She won the 2014 election with 64 per cent of the vote.

Crombie announced her intention to run for re-election in October 2017, listing ongoing work on the Hurontario LRT, the development of Mississauga’s waterfront, and the introduction of recorded votes at city council as her greatest accomplishments.

Prior to being elected mayor, Crombie served as MPP for Mississauga-Streetsville and city councillor for Ward 5.

VAUGHAN

Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua has clinched a third term in office. Prior to being elected mayor, Bevilacqua spent 22 years as a federal member of Parliament, serving as minister of state for science, research and development, minister of state for finance.

Bevilacqua campaign relied heavily on his past accomplishments, with him promising voters he would create the same “transformational change” that he has brought to the City of Vaughan over his last two terms as mayor.

He was running unopposed until the last 24 hours of the nomination period, when two other candidates announced their bids.

OSHAWA

It was anyone’s race in Oshawa after former mayor John Henry decided not to seek re-election, instead placing a bid for he elected regional chair of Durham region.

Frontrunner and former regional and city councillor Dan Carter has been elected in his place.

Carter has not shied away from speaking about his difficult past, saying that his personal journey has helped shape his interest in politics.

MARKHAM

Frank Scarpitti has been re-elected for a third term as mayor of Markham, making him the longest serving mayor in the region.

Scarpitti has spent the last 33 years in public service, having been first elected as councillor in York region in 1985. He was first appointed to the position of mayor in 1992 when the sitting mayor passed away while in office.

After losing the 1994 municipal election, Scarpitti was officially elected into the position in 2006.

About a week before the election, Markham’s city council, led by Scarpitti, voted nearly unanimously to prohibit the smoking of cannabis in public areas ahead of the country’s legalization of marijuana.

HAMILTON

Fred Eisenberger has been re-elected as mayor of Hamilton.

Eisenberger served as city councillor for nine years before taking a short hiatus to serve as Chair of the Hamilton Port Authority. He was elected mayor in 2006, but left office in 2010 to serve as president and CEO of the Canadian Urban Institute.

In 2014, he ran again for mayor of Hamilton and won.

There were 15 candidates vying for the position of mayor in Hamilton.

WHITCHURCH-STOUFFVILLE

Former Deputy Mayor Iain Lovatt has been elected Mayor of Whitchurch-Stouffville, unseating incumbent Justin Altmann.

Lovatt told CTV News Toronto last week that he decided to run for the position of mayor in order to bring stability to city council after Altmann’s controversial four-year term.

Last year, Altmann made headlines after a collection of photographs of councillors, former employees and residents were found stuck to the wall of his office washroom.

Altmann was docked six-month’s pay for the incident and was prohibited from entering town facilities, with the exception of council meetings. He refused to apologize for the photograph wall.

WHITBY

Incumbent Don Mitchell has been re-elected mayor of Whitby.

Mitchell has served as city councillor for 12 years and as regional councillor for eight years prior to being elected mayor in 2014.

This will be his second term as mayor.

OAKVILLE

Incumbent Rob Burton has been re-elected mayor of Oakville.

Burton first ran for mayor in 2003, but was defeated by 38 votes. He was successfully elected into the position in 2006.

BARRIE

Incumbent Jeff Lehman has been re-elected mayor of Barrie for a second term.

The race for mayor in 2018 was similar to the election in 2014, with Lehman running against the same candidate in a two-man race.

Opponent Ram Faerber had previously run as an independent candidate in the provincial election. He was defeated by PC candidate Doug Downey.