Andrea Horwath elected; makes history as first female Hamilton mayor
Published October 24, 2022 at 11:06 pm
Long-time Hamilton MPP and former Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath has been elected as the 58th mayor in Hamilton’s 175-year history. She is the first-ever female to hold the title.
inthehammer.com called the race at 11:05 p.m.
Horwath unofficially received 41.68 per cent of the votes for a total of 59,216 — edging out former Hamilton Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Keanin Loomis, who garnered 40.51 per cent, or 57,553 votes.
When Hamilton residents made their way to the polling stations on Monday, the only thing they knew for sure was that they would watch a brand new mayor take the city’s top job. Incumbent Fred Eisenberger announced he would not seek re-election after serving from 2006 to 2010 and 2014 to 2023.
There was also an extreme likelihood that the city would be getting a first-time Hamilton mayor, with Bob Bratina — whose mayoral tenure was sandwiched between Eisenberger from 2010 to 2014 — trailing significantly behind the two favourites according to advanced polling, Loomis and Horwath.
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Bratina received 12.27 per cent of the votes.
Other candidates included Ejaz Butt (1.34 per cent) and white nationalist and far-right activist Paul Fromm (0.63 per cent).
A view of Hamilton City Hall and the escarpment from downtown.
This won’t be the first time Horwath’s office is located inside City Hall. She served as Ward 2 city councillor from 1997 to her election to provincial parliament in 2004.
After winning her own riding in Hamilton Centre and leading the party to official opposition status despite a nearly 25 per cent seat reduction, Horwath announced in June that she would step down as Ontario NDP leader.
After rampant media speculation, Horwath announced in July that she would enter the mayoral race.
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