Trio of current councillors and former politician registered to run in Brampton election

Nominations for candidates running for Brampton City Council have been open for more than a month, and so far a trio of current councillors and one former politician have entered the race.

The nomination period lasts from May until mid-August for the 2026 Ontario municipal elections, which will be held across the province in October, and only a handful of sitting councillors have confirmed they will run again this year.

According to the city’s election website, Wards 1 and 5 City Coun. Rowena Santos has registered to run again in her ward pairing. Santos was first elected in 2018 and has been an outspoken advocate for road safety initiatives and women’s rights, and is also a close council ally of Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown.

Three challengers have registered to run against Santos as of Friday afternoon, including Tracy Pepe, who failed to unseat Santos in the 2022 municipal election. Santos won the seat with 36.14 per cent of the vote in 2022, while challengers Stacey Ann Brooks got 21.73 per cent and Pepe received 13.86 per cent.

READ MORE: Birth of third child could sway Patrick Brown away from third term as mayor of Brampton

Wards 1 and 5 Regional Coun. Paul Vincente has also registered to run again in October. School and community advocate Idris Orughu has registered to run in the ward along with Steven Lee, who also ran against Santos in 2022 (and got 6.25 of the votes).

The last sitting Brampton councillor signed up to run in October is Wards 7 and 8 Regional Councillor Pat Fortini, who was first elected to Brampton City Council in 2014. He was re-elected in 2018 and again in 2022.

There were two other candidates registered to run against Fortini as of Friday: Anil Sahajpal and Aman Sharma.

And while not a current councillor, there’s one other familiar face who’s entered the race – former Wards 9 and 10 Coun. Gurpreet Singh Dhillon.

Dhillon, a two-time Brampton councillor, lost his seat in the 2022 municipal election and was the only incumbent not re-elected in Brampton following allegations of sexual misconduct and harassment of a female staffer while on a City of Brampton trade mission to Turkey in 2019.

The former councillor said last month that accusations against him were withdrawn in a letter he says retracts the claims, while the city’s integrity commissioner says she was unable to verify the letter actually came from the complainant.

Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown has not confirmed whether he will run for a third term. He was first elected in 2018.