10 candidates now in the race to become mayor of Mississauga

Two more candidates for mayor of Mississauga have entered the race.

With just over four weeks left until candidate nominations close for the 2026 municipal election, 10 hopefuls have now signed up for the mayoral contest in Canada’s seventh-largest city.

Frank Fang, who ran in the 2024 mayoral byelection in Mississauga, and Fadi Naami registered to run in the past week. Fang also competed for the Ward 9 council seat in the 2022 municipal election.

The latest entrants join a field that includes incumbent Mayor Carolyn Parrish, former mayor Bonnie Crombie, who left the post in early 2024 to lead the Ontario Liberals and take a shot at unseating the premier, and two sitting city councillors — Alvin Tedjo (Ward 2) and Dipika Damerla (Ward 7).

Mississauga Mayor Carolyn Parrish.

David Shaw, Mike Matulewicz, Olivia Gannon and Amjad Jilani round out the field of candidates officially entered in the contest as of Wednesday. Shaw ran in both the 2024 mayoral byelection and the 2022 municipal election (for mayor) while Matulewicz was also among the 20 candidates to run in the city’s mayoral byelection just over two years ago.

The dynamic of the 2026 race for mayor of Mississauga changed dramatically eight days ago when Crombie officially entered the fray. The move ended months of speculation as to whether the former mayor, who succeeded Hazel McCallion in 2014 and served until 2024, would once again seek the top elected position in the city.

Crombie’s candidacy sets up what promises to be a heated battle among the most well-known and established of the candidates in herself, Parrish, Tedjo and Damerla.

Former Mississauga mayor Bonnie Crombie.

What was already shaping up to be an interesting mayoral competition in Mississauga is now set to be one of the most closely watched races in Ontario as voters prepare to head to the polls on Oct. 26.

Under Crombie’s leadership, the Ontario Liberals were defeated soundly by Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives in the February 2025 provincial election. Later that year, she first put the take-another-run-at-Mississauga-mayor notion out there when she said she wouldn’t rule out another run for the position.

Parrish, who won the mayoral byelection in June 2024 to succeed Crombie, told INsauga.com earlier she’d look forward to debating the issues with her predecessor.

Mississauga Ward 7 Coun. Dipika Damerla.

She said she’d view such a development as “a fabulous challenge,” adding “I’d love it. We don’t think alike.

“… I would look forward to a debate with Bonnie Crombie.”

The 2026 municipal election will be held on Oct. 26. Candidate nominations opened May 1 and continue untl Aug. 21 at 2 p.m.

For more information on who’s running, how to become a candidate and the election in general, visit the city’s election page online.

Mississauga Ward 2 Coun. Alvin Tedjo.

Candidates who’ve registered to run for Mississauga city council ward seats, as of Wednesday afternoon (July 22), are:

• Stephen Dasko — Ward 1 (incumbent)
• Leeann Cole — Ward 2
• Ross Kutisker-Jacobson — Ward 2
• Ananya Majumder — Ward 2
• Michael Carroll — Ward 2
• Syed Jaffery — Ward 2
• Sue Shanly — Ward 2
• Chris Fonseca — Ward 3 (incumbent)
• Kim Pines — Ward 3
• Stjepan Vukovic — Ward 3
• Mendi Kabashi — Ward 3
• John Kovac — Ward 4 (incumbent)
• Natalie Hart — Ward 5 (incumbent)
• Ismail Bawa — Ward 5
• Mandeep Singh Dhaliwal — Ward 5
• Aruna Anand — Ward 5
• Raghavan Babu Bhogaiah — Ward 5
• Vipan Singh Mehta — Ward 5
• Danny Singh — Ward 5
• Joe Horneck — Ward 6 (incumbent)
• Gurcharan Guleria — Ward 6
• Amir Ali — Ward 7
• Joel Binda — Ward 7
• Maisa Salhia — Ward 7
• Leslie Zurek-Silvestri — Ward 7
• Asha Falinski — Ward 7
• Ahsan Khokhar — Ward 7
• Naila Saeed — Ward 7
• Amitabh Srivastava — Ward 7
• George Tavares — Ward 7
• Hazra Wade — Ward 7
• Gerald Adad — Ward 7
• Keshav Mandadi — Ward 7
• Lucas Alves — Ward 7
• Tassawar Syed — Ward 7
• Matt Mahoney — Ward 8 (incumbent)
• Rahul Mehta — Ward 8
• Viktoria Manzar — Ward 8
• Martin Reid — Ward 9 (incumbent)
• Ramsha Haq — Ward 9
• Anwar Knight — Ward 9
• Mohammad Shabbeer — Ward 9
• Sue McFadden — Ward 10 (incumbent)
• Suha Hashim — Ward 10
• Brad Butt — Ward 11 (incumbent)
• Dev Vashi — Ward 11