Former mayor might take another run at top elected post in Mississauga: reports

Mississauga Mayor Carolyn Parrish has said she’d “look forward to a debate with Bonnie Crombie.”

It’s suddenly looking more likely she’ll get that chance as the city’s former mayor, who left the post in early 2024 to become leader of the Ontario Liberals, has reportedly indicated — again — that she’s considering a 2026 mayoral run in Canada’s seventh-largest city.

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

The former Mississauga mayor, who served in the role from 2014 to 2024 as Hazel McCallion’s successor, subsequently announced her resignation as Ontario Liberal leader earlier this year, on Jan. 14.

If she does make her comeback bid official, Crombie would be competing against seven other hopefuls — as of June 17 — that include Parrish, who won the 2024 mayoral byelection to succeed Crombie, as well as current Mississauga city councillors Alvin Tedjo (Ward 2) and Dipika Damerla (Ward 7).

Former mayor of Mississauga Bonnie Crombie.

Though she has not officially registered to run, Crombie said on Wednesday she’s considering her options, according to both CP24 and CTV News.

Tedjo, meanwhile, didn’t waste time in offering up his thoughts on a potential Crombie run in the 2026 municipal election in Mississauga.

The first-term councillor, runner-up to Parrish in the 2024 mayoral byelection (Damerla placed third), told Newstalk 1010 radio on Wednesday morning he thinks “residents deserve better” than a candidate who’d be seeking the top elected post in Mississauga as a consolation prize.

“Didn’t she already quit this job? … She had this job for a number of years and she left,” Tedjo said. “Now she’s coming back and that’s raised a lot of eyebrows and she left because she wanted to be premier. I get that she thought there was something better. She quit to do something else and she’s currently treating the city like a backup plan and a consolation prize. And honestly, I think residents deserve better.”

Parrish, a longtime politician who served on Mississauga city council for 13 years in addition to the same amount of time as an MP in Ottawa, won the mayoral byelection in June 2024 to succeed Crombie.

Mississauga Mayor Carolyn Parrish.

The Mississauga mayor told INsauga.com in an interview late in 2025 that she planned to serve no more than one more term in the seat.

Parrish also said at the time the notion of Crombie eyeing a return to the Mississauga mayor’s office — as Crombie’s own words indicated — was just fine with her.

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.”

In a statement posted to social media on Wednesday afternoon, Damerla said she welcomes to the mayoral race “anyone who wants to contribute ideas and solutions for the future of Mississauga.”

The Ward 7 councillor, a former MPP first elected to city council in 2018, added her focus “is on building the next chapter of our city through practical leadership that delivers results for residents.”

Premier weighs in on potential Crombie candidacy

If his words from earlier this year hold true, Ontario’s premier will line up to oppose Crombie — in his own way — as well should the erstwhile mayor decide to enter the upcoming race.

Speaking at a housing announcement in Mississauga in late March, Ford said that while he doesn’t like getting involved in municipal politics — specifically, mayoral elections — he’d make an exception if the city’s former mayor decided to seek the seat once again.

He’d been asked by a reporter near the end of a 35-minute press conference to weigh in on a potential clash of political heavyweights in the 2026 Mississauga mayoral race.

“You know something, I never get involved in municipal elections, but I will send an army down here to make sure I support Mayor Parrish,” Ford said at the time.

The premier and Crombie have maintained a publicly contentious relationship in recent years that ranges from bickering to sharp personal attacks and policy disagreements.

Mississauga Ward 2 Coun. Alvin Tedjo is running for mayor.

After stepping down as leader of the Ontario Liberals in January, Crombie said in a written statement to the media she was “looking forward to spending more time with my family, including welcoming my first grandchild, while giving the party the space it needs to move forward with new leadership.”

However, buoyed by the results of a poll last October, Crombie said at that time she wouldn’t rule out another run for the Mississauga mayor’s seat. She succeeded McCallion, the city’s longtime seat holder, in 2014 and won re-election twice before leaving the post in January 2024 to become leader of Ontario’s Liberal Party.

Though Crombie officially resigned as leader of the Liberals in January, she decided last September to step down after receiving just 57 per cent support in a leadership vote at the party’s annual general meeting.

Mississauga Ward 7 Coun. Dipika Damerla is running for mayor.

In addition to Parrish, Tedjo and Damerla, four other candidates as of June 17 are officially entered in the competition to become mayor of Canada’s seventh-largest city.

David Shaw, Mike Matulewicz, Rahul Mehta and Olivia Gannon are also on the ballot. Shaw ran in both the 2024 mayoral byelection and the 2022 municipal election.

Mehta, meanwhile, ran for the Ward 8 seat on city council in 2022 and Matulewicz was also among the 20 candidates to run in the city’s mayoral byelection two years ago.

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.