Shaped by PC politicking, the Niagara municipal election landscape is set, let the campaigning begin
Nominations for municipal offices of mayor, councillor and school board trustee officially closed ten days ago, and across Niagara Region, incumbents and those looking to challenge them for their seats around the council table are gearing up for nearly two months of campaigning ahead of voting day on October 26.
Those entering the race are campaigning in a much different political landscape in Niagara than previous years, one shaped by PC government legislation that has dramatically shifted local governance in the region.
This election, Niagara’s voters will no longer be directly electing representatives to the upper-tier Niagara Regional Council.
With the passage of Bill 100, the Better Regional Governance Act, the Province eliminated Niagara’s 19 directly elected councillors representing Niagara’s lower-tier municipalities at Regional Council. The controversial decision by Premier Doug Ford, who made no secret about his belief that there were too many politicians in Niagara, means the upper tier Council will be populated by just the mayors of Niagara’s 12 municipalities. A system of weighted voting, which has not been detailed by the Province, will be implemented, likely giving larger municipalities more voting power. There are concerns that St. Catharines and Niagara Falls could effectively have a veto over the wishes of the remaining smaller municipalities.
Of the 19 regional councillors without an incumbent position to run for, five are seeking the higher office of mayor of their respective municipalities - Tom Insinna, Pat Chiocchio, Michelle Seaborn, Tim Whalen and Andrea Kaiser. Councillors Sal Sorrento, Wayne Olson, Albert Winteveen, Joyce Morocco and Kim Craitor are all vying to return to their local council seats.
Regional councillors, who did not file for reelection are: Frank Campion (Welland), Gary Zalepa (Niagara-on-the Lake), Rob Foster (Lincoln), Barbara Greenwood (Niagara Falls), Vance Badawey (Port Colborne), Leanna Villella (Welland) and St. Catharines representatives Haley Bateman, Brian Heit, Laura Ip, Tim Rigby and Peter Secord.
Campion and Zalepa, the mayors of their respective municipalities, have confirmed they have applied for the Regional Chair’s position, meaning their respective municipalities will see new heads of council, as will Lincoln and Thorold. Sandra Easton (Lincoln) and Terry Ugalini (Thorold) announced they would not be seeking re-election before nominations opened on May 1.
In addition to the loss of the 19 directly elected Regional Councillors, four lower-tier municipalities will see their council ranks reduced by two members, going from eight councillors to six, plus the mayor.
Lincoln Council approved their reductions in 2025.
During the amalgamation threat in March, Thorold, Port Colborne and Niagara-on-the-Lake approved the same size reductions to “demonstrate that Niagara's communities are ready to lead reform without waiting for direction from above”, according to a news release from Niagara-on-the-Lake.
Below is The Pointer’s breakdown of the candidates who have registered to run within this altered political landscape. All municipalities were to certify candidates by 4:00 p.m. on Monday, August 24th. The Pointer reviewed all municipal election websites after the deadline to ensure accuracy.
(Mayor & 12 ward councillors to be elected)
The full list of registered candidates can be found here.
The field for mayor in Niagara’s largest municipality is
Mat Siscoe, Ann-Marie Zammit, Jimmy Jackson, Anthony A. Adeoye and Henry Bosch.
After serving 11 years as a City Councillor and one-year as a Regional Councillor, Siscoe was victorious in the 2022 mayoral election, winning almost 69 percent of the vote. While none of his opponents have held elected office, Siscoe has been criticized in his term as mayor for a large municipal tax increase in 2023, using municipal resources in endorsing Doug Ford, the lack of clean-up of the former GM property and his use of controversial strong mayor powers handed to him by Ford.
Mr. Jackson and Ms. Zammit both appeared at the March 2 St. Catharines Council special meeting on regional governance reform, speaking against forced amalgamation. Ms. Zammit was especially assertive in calling Siscoe to task for his support of a four-city model without public consultation.
Zammit has also been critical of the recent flooding response, citing a “lack of leadership”. In response to Mayor Siscoe’s claims no infrastructure system in Canada could have handled the amount of rain received by St. Catharines, from the first weather event on July 21 to the second flood on August 2nd. Zammit posted on her social media that it has been “business as usual, status quo” at the City and “what people are asking for is better than what we have.”
At a press conference on August 4 Siscoe touted that the City’s combined sanitary and storm water capital funding has been “$22 million the last two years. That's triple what it was in the mid-2010’s.” He conceded that “we cannot engineer our way out of these weather events”, noting the need for more retention ponds and better design for the capture of storm water.
Mr. Adeoye, as per his campaign website, is a Director of Operations at VEC Ventures Inc. and is currently completing a second bachelor's degree in Sociology at Brock University.
In Ward 1 - Merritton, with two-term councillor Greg Miller not seeking re-election, there will be at least one new ward councillor. Current councillor, Jackie Lindal is seeking a second term. Rounding out the candidates for the Merritton Ward are long-time Merritton Lions Club member Geoff Crane, Matt Aymar and Ashlee Davidson-Miller.
Ward 2 will also see at least one new member. It is the end of an era in St. Catharines with Joe Kushner not seeking re-election. Believed to be the longest continually serving municipal politician in the country, he has served on Council and represented the St. Andrew’s ward since 1976. Kushner retired from Brock University, earlier this year, where he had been since 1969.
While not quite as tenured as Kushner, his ward mate, Matt Harris is seeking re-election for his fifth consecutive term on council.
Former Board Chair for the Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce and Cold Break Brewery owner, Noel Buckley, is seeking one of the two seats in St. Andrews. Buckley, arguably. has an even higher profile in Niagara Falls, where he was the President of Niagara Falls Tourism and the President and General Manager of the Niagara Falls Convention Centre. Interestingly, another Ward 2 candidate, Catherine McNabb had a brief stint as Executive Director of Niagara Falls Tourism.
Also running in the ward are Jim Adair; Tom Neale; Adrianna Clifford, a Spanish language teacher and president of the Latin Immigrant Niagara Community Association; and Bryan Blue, who has previously worked in the Region and Town of Lincoln’s economic development departments. Mr. Blue was one of many speakers at the March 2nd special meeting on governance. Although he did not explicitly endorse amalgamation, he concluded that “the current system is not working.”
Both incumbents in Ward 3 - St. George’s are seeking re-election: two-term incumbent Kevin Townsend and one-term incumbent Mark Stevens. They are challenged by two past Ward 3 councillors. Regional Councillor Sal Sorrento is seeking to return to the ward where he served for two terms (2014-2022). Sorrento twice ran unsuccessfully for the PCs to be the MPP for St. Catharines, losing to Jennie Stevens (NDP) in 2022 and 2025. Mike Britton was Sorrento’s ward mate in the 2014-2018 term. Britton would vie for one of St. Catharines’ six Regional Council seats in 2018, when he finished eighth. He would eventually serve the last six months of the term as a Regional Council when appointed to fill the vacancy left when George Darte resigned. Britton challenged Siscoe for Mayor in 2022, finishing with 25 percent of the vote.
New candidates in the ward are Alexander Miller, who has promoted the need for a vacant home tax on his social media, and Kate Werneberg, who also appeared at the March 2nd Special Council meeting opposing amalgamation and the March 23rd meeting in support of the effort to maintain St. Catharines’ Safe Consumption and Treatment Site.
One issue surrounding Ward 4 - St. Patrick's, which encompasses downtown St. Catharines and most of the Ontario Street corridor, is likely to get much traction during the 2026 campaign.
The ward includes the former GM property, which has shown little progress toward rehabilitation over the current council term. With the vacant property being an eyesore and posing a variety of health and safety risks, the municipality only recently issued a property standards order after contending over the years that the owner had a valid demolition permit and that the municipality lacked the authority to clean up the property.
First-time candidate Grant Higginson is campaigning on the GM issue. He challenged Mayor Siscoe at a public town hall on the municipality’s inaction regarding the property and submitted a correspondence to Council questioning the mayor’s use of his “strong mayor powers” to single source a $250,000 contract for the Ontario Street secondary planning process, which may determine the future of the former GM lands and surrounding area. Higginson is promising property standards enforcement and “a decisive plan to address the long-standing decay at the old General Motors site on Ontario Street.”
Both of the ward’s incumbent councillors are campaigning for re-election. Caleb Ratzlaff is seeking a second term, while Robin McPherson, who was originally appointed in the last year of the 2018-2022 term and re-elected in 2022, has also filed her nomination paper. McPherson represented the Liberal party in the 2025 provincial race that Sal Sorrento also contested.
The other candidates are Noah Machek, a carpenter and chair of the Clean City Task Force, who finished fourth in the ward in the 2022 election; Austin Shynal; and Allen McKay, who has been an active member of the Property Taxpayers Alliance, often commenting in local media on what he views as the ineffectiveness of the current government structure in Niagara.
In Ward 5 - Grantham, both incumbents, who have served for many years, are looking to be re-elected. Dawn Dodge has represented the ward since 2001, except for the 2014 to 2018 term. Bill Phillips is seeking his sixth straight council term.
Challenging the long-time incumbents are Spencer Bellows-DeWolfe, Dunsin Fakorede and Emmanuel Oneka. Mr. Bellows-DeWolfe, was the third-place finisher in Ward 4 - St. Patrick’s in the 2022 municipal election and currently serves on the Niagara Parks Commission. His mother, Sandie Bellows, represented the ward during the 2014-2018 term. Mr. Fakorede is a mechanical engineer and Secretary of the Nigerian Community and Professionals Forum of Canada (NCPFC).
In Ward 6 - Port Dalhousie, Bruce Williamson is seeking re-election. Williamson has represented the ward since 1995. Marty Mako, the other incumbent, has also filed. Mako won a by-election in the ward last year after the passing of Carlos Garcia, who was first elected in 2015. Also running in the ward is Constantina O'Reilly.
(Mayor & 8 at-large councillors to be elected)
The full list of registered candidates can be found here.
Incumbent Mayor Jim Diodati filed his nomination paper on May 1st, the day nominations opened. Seeking his fifth straight mayoral term, Diodati made it clear that he wants to preside over the ribbon cutting when the South Niagara Hospital opens in Niagara Falls, slated for 2028.
Diodati has faced little opposition since he defeated incumbent mayor Ted Salci in 2010 and brushed aside long-time Niagara politician Kim Craitor in 2018. Despite his election success, he has been criticized for his support of municipal amalgamation, cozying up to the Premier in the last Provincial election, his council’s heavy-handed approach to Integrity Commissioner complaints, for calling police on peaceful protestors inside council chambers, and his “politainment” style.
Lori Lococo also filed on the first day to run for council again, then, on the second last day of the nomination period, she withdrew her candidacy for a third term as a councillor to challenge Diodati for mayor. Lococo has often been a sole vote against Diodati and his other dutiful councillors on a variety of issues.
Other challengers to Diodati’s possible fifth term are Kevin Martineau, a barber; Michael Lucid, proprietor of an e-bike shop in the City’s Downtown and Paul Manning, a former undercover officer, who wrote of his experiences in the book Ten Seventy Eight: A Tale of Mafia Power and Police Corruption. Manning’s platform includes eliminating the $1,000 filing fee for council member Code of Conduct complaints, which has been the source of critical comments from the Ontario Ombudsman.
Current one-term regional councillor, Joyce Morocco is seeking a return to Niagara Falls Council where she served from 2003 to 2006 and 2010 to 2018. Morocco was a Liberal candidate in the Niagara Falls riding federally in 2008 and provincially in 2014. She has co-chaired the Region’s Public Health & Social Services Standing Committee.
Another long-time Niagara Falls politician looking to get back on City Council is Kim Craitor. An alderman from 1990 to 2003, he served as the Niagara Falls riding MPP from 2003 to 2013, when he was asked to resign over harassment claims that he has denied.
Craitor returned to Council for the 2014 term but failed in an effort to unseat Diodati in 2022. He returned to politics in 2022 and his name recognition in the municipality allowed him to avoid waging a campaign. He incurred no election expenses, despite topping the polls for the three directly-elected Niagara Falls positions on Regional Council.
Incumbent Mona Patel is seeking her second term. Patel was a surprise victor in the 2022 municipal election, becoming the first visible minority candidate to be elected in Niagara Falls, a sign of the changing demographics and attitudes in the community, which remains far less representative of the political diversity seen in other parts of the country. Also seeking second terms are Ruth-Ann Nieuwesteeg, who ran unsuccessfully last year for the PC Party to be the MPP for the local riding, and Tony Baldinelli, who is not the same Tony Baldinelli who represents Niagara Falls as the Conservative member of federal parliament. Chris Dabrowski, who served from 2018 to 2022 but came ninth in the 2022 election, only to be appointed back on Council after the resignation of long-time local politician Wayne Thomson in 2024, is seeking re-election.
Three term incumbent Mike Strange is also seeking re-election. Strange, who topped the polls for councillors in the previous two elections, was acquitted earlier this year after a domestic assault charge.
Two long-time sitting city councillors are not seeking re-election: Victor Pietrangelo, who was first elected in 1994 and won eight successive elections and Vince Kerrio, who was a city councillor from 1980 to 1985 and 2003 to 2022. In the last election, Kerrio finished out of a seat in tenth place, but was appointed in early 2025 to fill the vacancy left by the passing of Wayne Campbell.
With an at-large system, Niagara Falls has traditionally seen more than two dozen candidates contesting the eight council seats and this year is no different with 30 candidates.
A number of this year’s candidates have previously attempted to win a council seat: Former police officer and current member of the City’s Committee of Adjustment Dan Moody, who finished eleventh in 2022; Rich Merlino, who finished tenth in 2018 but sat out the last election; Tawnya Hartford, current President of the Rotary Club of Niagara Falls Sunrise; Gary Baker, who had filed for mayor in this election but switched to council after Lori Lococo’s filing for mayor; Joedy Burdertt; and Frank DeLuca, who sits on the City’s Property Standards Committee and Committee of Adjustment.
Mr. Burdett finished 20th out of 26 candidates in the 2022 election. He regularly comments on Council matters, sending in correspondence for inclusion on meeting agendas with the heading, “Official Opposition Party to The City of Niagara Falls Council”. Burdett has struck a nerve with the current Council.
While not specifically naming him, Mr. Burdett’s persistent communications lead to a 2024 staff report entitled "Restriction of Certain Forms of Participation and Engagement in Council Meetings” that recommended staff exclude communications from agendas if frivolous, without factual or legal merit or abusive. The recent increase to $1,000 to file a Code of Conduct complaint was in no small part due to Mr. Burdett’s regular filings.
First-time candidates for Council are Sheila Deluca, who sits on a number of the City’s citizen advisory committees; Brad Pine; Jitto Tom; Darlene Cane; Celia Taylor, who ran under the Green Party banner in last year’s provincial and federal elections; Lilian Lum Mbah, a recipient of a DEI award from the City for her work with Divine Favour Healthcare Staffing Inc; Dan Giancola, a former CFL placekicker; Brian “Winnie” Winrow, a garage door technician and long-time Chippawa Volunteer Firefighter; Terry Thomson, retired police officer and member of the City’s Recreation Committee; Carm Notarianni; Nohemi Renteria; Fred Audibert, a retired Niagara Falls firefighter; Carmine Ioannoni, a retired City of Niagara Falls employee; restaurateur Chris Rigas, who ran for one of the three Niagara Falls Regional Councillor positions in 2022; Aaron Ramnarine; Shane (Shaner) O'Connell, and downtown barber, Rob Barranca.
(Mayor & 12 ward councillors to be elected)
The full list of registered candidates can be found here.
Despite a recommendation from City staff during the term, to cut council in half for 2026, Welland Council remains at 13 members, consisting of a mayor and six wards with two elected representatives per ward. The municipality conducted a ward boundary review that will be in place for the upcoming election and the following one in 2030. The boundary adjustments provide greater balance of the number of people in each ward, in keeping with population growth patterns in the community. Residents can find details about the new ward boundaries on the City’s website.
Three-term incumbent mayor Frank Campion confirmed that he would not seek re-election shortly before nominations closed and that he had applied for the Regional Chair’s position.
At a standing committee hearing at the end of April on Bill 100, Campion indicated if called upon to be the Regional Chair he would do it but that he was not lobbying for the position.
The strong possibility that Campion would not seek re-election has led to a competitive contest to elect his successor.
Two-term Regional Councillor Pat Chiocchio, who is the past chair of the Niagara Police Services Board and co-chair of the Region’s Public Health & Social Services Standing Committee, has filed for mayor. Prior to being on Regional Council, Chiocchio was a Ward 4 councillor on Welland Council from 2003 to the 2018 election.
A candidate with previous mayoral experience is April Jeffs, though her experience was as mayor of the Township of Wainfleet from 2010 to 2018. After serving as mayor, Jeffs contested the Niagara Centre MPP seat in 2018 for the PCs, finishing second to Jeff Burch (NDP). The following year she finished second to Vance Badawey (Liberals) in Niagara Centre’s federal race. In 2022, Jeffs was appointed Chair of the Niagara Parks Commission by Premier Ford. She has also been a member of the Welland Hospital Task Force.
Two current sitting councillors are hoping to fill the vacancy left by Campion not running: Four-term councillor David McLeod from Ward 2 and two-term councillor from Ward 5, Graham Speck. Like Jeffs, Speck represented the Conservative Party in Niagara Centre also finishing second to Badawey in the 2021 federal election.
Rounding out the candidates for mayor of Welland are Gary Graziani, a municipal building official and Knights of Columbus member; Brandon Simon, who addressed Welland Council at their meeting on governance review, opposed to the reduction of political representation; David Clow, who ran for mayor in 2018, but was precluded from running again for municipal office until this election for failing to file the requisite financial form; and Natashia Bergen, who represented the Green Party in the Welland ridings in both the 2025 federal and provincial elections.
There will be at least one new ward councillor in Welland’s Ward 1. Long-time councillor Mary Ann Grimaldi is not seeking re-election, while incumbent Adam Moote is seeking his third term.
Bradley Ulch and Jessica LaHay, who came in third and fourth in 2022 to Moote and Grimaldi, have filed to run again. Both Ulch and LaHay have community involvement, with the former part of the team at the Hope Centre, Welland’s Food Bank, and the latter a past president of Welland’s Rose Festival. They are joined by Kiron Bondale, who ran in Ward 4 in 2022 and Josh Sawatsky.
Ward 2 will also see at least one new face, as David McLeod has filed for mayor. Incumbent Leo Van Vliet is seeking re-election. He has been on Welland Council for 25 years. Van Vliet had introduced the motion earlier in the current for staff to look at options to reduce the Council’s size.
Other registered candidates in Ward 2 are Aldo Parrotta, founder and director of Art Gallery of Welland and a member of the municipality’s Arts and Culture Committee; Carolyn Fast, who chairs the City’s Green Advisory Committee; Steve Yochim, local realtor and Hope Centre Board member, who ran in 2022; Vince DiMauro and Nick Albano.
In Ward 3, first term incumbent Sharmila Setaram has filed to run again, as has incumbent John Chiocchio, who was first elected to Council in 2014.
Perennial candidate and mental health activist, Steve Soos has filed to run in the ward after originally filing for the English Public School Board. In 2018, Soos, similarly, first filed to run in Ward 4 before changing to run for mayor. Both he and current mayoral candidate David Clow received approximately 11 percent of the vote in that election to Frank Campion’s 78 percent.
Also running in the ward is James Takeo, a tattoo artist, who is on the City’s Arts & Culture Committee and the Downtown BIA board and John Braimoh.
Ward 4 incumbent Tony DiMarco, who has been the subject of numerous Integrity Commissioner complaints and was, at one point during the term, prohibited from attending meetings at City Hall, is seeking a fourth consecutive term. Current Ward 4 Councillor Bryan Green is seeking a second term.
The incumbents are joined in the ward race by David Alexander, who was a two-term councillor from 2003 to 2010; Tia DeAgazio, who sits on the City’s Heritage and Green Advisory committees and ran in Ward 2 last election; Safdar Ali, Tissa Ratnayake, a mortgage specialist and Terry Zorgel.
With Graham Speck running for mayor, a vacancy is available in Ward 5. Claudette Richard, who has represented the ward since 2018, has filed to run again. The other candidates are Luca Mele, a New Blue candidate in Thornhill in last year’s provincial election; Connie McCutcheon, a member of the City’s Heritage Advisory Committee; Mark Dzugan, a councillor from 2000 to 2010, who ran in 2022; Michelle Febers and Aaron Albano.
The Ward 6 ballot for 2026 looks similar to 2022, with all five candidates from the last election filing again, along with two new candidates.
Both incumbents have filed their nomination papers. Bonnie Fokkens is seeking a fourth term in office while Jamie Lee is attempting to return for a second term. Lee won the seat in 2022 by a single vote over then incumbent, Jim Larouche, who filed to run again in the last week of nominations.
Cheryl Rowe, the 2022 fourth place finisher, is also running again. A letter from Ms. Rowe prompted the Niagara Regional Police Service to support the launch of a Neighbourhood Watch program earlier this year and she was a delegate in February at the Region’s Region’s Public Health & Social Services Standing Committee, calling on the Ford government to declare a province-wide state of emergency over the ongoing crises of people battling with mental health, homelessness, and addictions issues. Also running again is Steve Falusi. New candidates in Ward 6 are Sean Vout and Kevin Muller.
(Mayor & 6 ward councillors to be elected)
The full list of registered candidates can be found here.
Incumbent Wayne Redekop, who was first elected mayor of Fort Erie in 1997 and has served for more than 20 years during his two stints as mayor, is seeking re-election. Redekop has often taken the lead at Regional Council against former Chair Gale’s amalgamation efforts and in opposition to Bill 100. He’s being challenged by the current two-term Regional Councillor representing Fort Erie, Tom Insinna, a retired RCMP officer, who has regularly attempted to find savings in the Niagara Regional Police budget.
Also running for Mayor are Juan Liu and Mike Campbell.
All current ward councillors filed to run again in 2026 and up until a week before nominations closed, Councillors George McDermott (Ward 1), Nick Dubanow (Ward 2) and Ann-Marie Noyes (Ward 6) were looking at acclamations.
No candidate came forward to challenge Noyes, who has represented Ward 6 from 2000 to 2010 and, again, since 2018, so she has been acclaimed.
McDermott appeared to have a challenger in Giovanni Mollicone, who ran in the last two elections in Ward 2, under the anglicized version of his name, John. Fort Erie Radio reported that he subsequently filed in West Lincoln for trustee for the District School Board of Niagara, as John, rendering his Fort Erie filing as withdrawn. McDermott has officially been acclaimed.
Dubanow (Ward 2), who is seeking a third term, did get a challenger and is now facing Jon Nadeau, who operates the Cozy Corner Cafe with his wife in the Bridgeburg BIA.
In Ward 3, one-term councillor Darren Flagg has filed to run again. S. Jennifer Priestley, a local paralegal, who was runner up in Ward 4 in the 2022 election, has filed to run in Ward 3. Also running is Andrew Holdsworth, who sits on the Town’s Environmental Advisory Committee.
Ward 4 incumbent Joan Christensen is seeking a second term. Also running in the Ward 4 are Daniel Turner, a member of the Fort Erie Library Board; Matt Paul, a financial services professional and organizer of live human chess event fundraisers; and Tavis McGlashan, who operates the Our Corner Cafe with his wife in the Ridgeway BIA.
Tom Lewis is seeking a third, non-consecutive term representing Ward 5 in the Crystal Beach area of the municipality. Candidate Scott Boumeester is the President of Advancing Crystal Beach, a not-for-profit grass roots organization promoting the area. Also running in the ward are a couple of youthful candidates, Thomas Mete, a former chair of the Mayor’s Youth Advisory Committee and Kassandra Ryerson, whose campaign website has the tagline “Protecting Our Shore. Preserving Our Future”.
(Mayor & 8 ward councillors to be elected)
The full list of registered candidates can be found here.
The Grimsby Mayor’s race has generated interest among high profile candidates in the municipality, all of whom filed in May, the first month of nominations. Current mayor, Jeff Jordan is seeking a third term. He was also a Ward 4 councillor from 1997 to 2006.
Over the past term, Jordan has often butted heads with first-term Ward 3 councillor, Veronica Charrois. The councillor made it known well before the opening of nominations on May 1 that she would be challenging Jordan for the mayor’s seat and made good on the promise.
Jordan and Charrois are joined in the race by current Grimsby Regional Councillor, Michelle Seaborn. With the elimination of directly elected Regional Councillors, Seaborn is looking to return to Grimsby Council where she served for two terms (2010-2018).
Rounding out the candidates is Simon Duong, who owns Teddy’s Sports Bar and the Town’s Junior C hockey team, the Peach Kings. Duong stepped aside as Chair of Grimsby’s Downtown Business Improvement Area to campaign for mayor.
Ward 1 will see new council representatives. Incumbent Reg Freake is running again, but has filed to run in Ward 4 and the other incumbent, Delight Davoli, is not seeking re-election. The candidates are Margot Smeenk, a retired civil engineer in traffic and transportation, who is a citizen member of Grimsby’s Public Works committee; George Bodnar, who is a member of the Grimsby Green Advisory Committee and Kevin Ritchie. The latter served on Council from 2018 to 2022 but was defeated in the last election with 455 votes, well below second-place Freake, who had 1,611 votes.
In Ward 2, incumbent Lianne Vardy has filed for a third term and incumbent Don Howe has four non-consecutive terms on Grimsby council. Also filing to run in Ward 2 are Ben Purkiss, owner of creative agency Pendulum, who sits on Grimsby’s Economic Development Advisory Committee and David Scott.
Another former councillor attempting to make a return to council in Ward 2 was Dave Sharpe, but he withdrew.
It had not been until the last few weeks that anyone had come forward to file to run in Ward 3. After the closing of nominations there are eight candidates, the most in any of Grimsby’s wards.
Jennifer Korstanje is seeking a second term. Last year, she was the federal Liberal candidate in the Niagara West riding. Although she did not unseat eight-term MP Dean Allison, she amassed more than 30,000 votes and 43 percent of the vote.
With Ms. Charrois running for Mayor, there has been some jockeying in the ward. John Dunstall, originally filed to run in Ward 2, but has shifted. The former two term councillor, is seeking to return to council after failing to unseat Jeff Jordan, in the 2022 mayoral election, when he received 19 percent of the vote.
Ward 4 incumbent Jacob Baradziej, who got elected in 2022 with 362 votes, will attempt to get re-elected in a different ward. Ryan Day will make his third attempt at trying to win a Ward 3 seat. He came fourth in 2022 with 661 votes, twenty more than he garnered in 2018. Joanne Johnston, a wedding officiant, who was a ward representative for three terms until the 2018 election, will try again to return. In 2022, she came in third place with 958 votes. Also running in the ward is Shane Weaver, a martial arts instructor; along with Amy Lupton and Jonathan Polowick.
In Ward 4, Current incumbent Nick DiFlavio has filed to run again. He has nearly 20 years of experience on council and current Ward 1 councillor, Reg Freake is seeking a third consecutive term. Wayne F. Fertich is also looking to return to council. He served on council from 1997 to 2010 and was the Town’s regional councillor from 2018 to 2022. He lost his seat in the last election to Seaborn by less than 300 votes.
(Mayor & 6 ward councillors to be elected)
The full list of registered candidates can be found here.
The major news surrounding the Lincoln municipal election is that Mayor Sandra Easton will not be seeking re-election. In a statement at the end of March, Easton said, “This decision is grounded in where I am in my journey of public service and in the goals we have achieved together over the past 12 years and throughout my 18 years in elected public service. I believe this is the right time to create space for renewed energy and leadership, particularly as we continue to navigate the need for government reform and economic stability across Niagara.”
Easton’s announcement has seen two current council members stepping up to replace her. Greg Reimer, two-term Ward 4 councillor, was the first to file for mayor. His current colleague, two-term Ward 1 councillor, Adam Thomas Russell joined the race in June.
Also running for mayor is Cheryl Keddy-Scott, a former school board trustee and current CEO of Village of Hope, Lincoln’s food bank/thrift store.
The other development impacting the Lincoln 2026 municipal race is the change in the Town’s electoral map and number of representatives. Last year, Town council agreed to revamp Lincoln’s municipal electoral map, reducing the number of wards from four to three and the number of councillors (including the mayor) from nine to seven.
Five of the current incumbent members have filed to return: Dianne Rintjema (Ward 1), Tony G. Brunet (Ward 2), John D. Pachereva (Ward 2) Mike Mikolic (Ward 3) and Lynn Timmers (Ward 3). Like Reimer, Timmers represented the former Ward 4. Current Ward 3 councillor Anna Murre announced on her social media in May that she would not be seeking re-election.
With only one incumbent running in Ward 1, there will be at least one new member of Lincoln council. Three non-incumbents have filed to run in Ward 1: Canaan El-Hassan, Carlo Filice and Justin Zegers, who ran in the 2018 election; Other non-incumbents running are Natalie Gervason in Ward 2 and Shawn Stryker has filed to run in Ward 3.
(Mayor & 6 at-large councillors to be elected)
The full list of registered candidates can be found here.
Like Lincoln, there will not be an incumbent mayor contesting the Head of Council position in 2026 in Thorold. Just days prior to nominations opening, two-term Mayor Terry Ugalini announced he would not be seeking re-election. In a statement, Ugalini touted accomplishments including having “successfully fought off amalgamation once again.”
With the mayor’s chair vacant, two high profile candidates have filed to succeed Ugalini.
Tim Whalen has served as Thorold’s representative on Regional Council for the last two terms. Prior to that, he was on Thorold City Council for 15 years. Henry D’Angela was Whalen’s predecessor as Thorold’s Regional representative from 2010-2018. He was Thorold’s mayor from 2006-2010 and has served two terms as Thorold council member, most recently this past term (2022-2026).
Mike De Divitiis, a current one-term city councillor, whose family has long-standing business interests in the City’s downtown, originally filed to run for mayor as well. He subsequently withdrew his nomination and is seeking re-election as a council member.
There are 22 candidates for the now six positions available on Thorold Council. Incumbents De Divitiis, Nella (D'Epiro) Dekker, Tim O'Hare, Ken Sentance, Carmen DeRose and David Jim Handley have all filed. They are joined by Ashraf Hindi, Chantal McCollum, Brandon Mckenney-Somerville, Clayton Pye, Ken Steeve, James Symons, Rae Whitty, Asad Mahmood, Kieran Daniels, Chris Richards, Kamal Fodil, Gurinder Kaur, Mal Romanin, Titi Oyeleye, Stephany Brennan, and Sarika Sherfudeen.
Current council member Anthony Longo did not file for re-election.
Ms. McCollum was the NDP candidate in the riding for last year’s federal election. Mr. Symons ran for Council in 2022, finishing sixteenth out of nineteen candidates.
Mr. Daniels finished twelfth last election and is a current member of the City’s Committee of Adjustment and Parks, Trails & Recreation Advisory Committee. Mr. Pye represented Canada as a wrestler. Mr. Romanin is a Thorold native, who in 2024 pitched Council on the municipality hosting a Perfect Collegiate League Baseball franchise, which ended up in St. Catharines as the Niagara Ironbacks. Imam Assad Mahmood is the President of the Aisha Mosque in Thorold, and was involved in efforts to have the City better accommodate Muslim burial traditions in Thorold’s cemetery. Rae Whitty is a member of the Darlene Ryan Port Robinson Community Centre Board.
Former councillor Handley finished eighth in the 2022 election, winning the final council seat by a mere three votes ahead of Victoria Wilson. Handley, who has been the subject of three Code of Conduct violations, was also the most vocal member opposed to the City of Thorold participating in the free federal program, the Partners for Climate Protection (PCP), which guides municipalities on how to reduce their climate-warming emissions.
(Mayor & 6 ward councillors to be elected)
The full list of registered candidates can be found here.
Bill Steele is seeking his third term as mayor of Port Colborne.
In 2022, the only person to contest Steele was his brother Charles. Last year, Steele was the PC candidate in the Niagara Centre riding during last year’s provincial election, finishing second to incumbent Jeff Burch (NDP).
Registered to run against him this year is Bea Kenny, who sat on Port Colborne Council from 1994 to 2018 before stepping away from public office. Up until the final week of nominations it appeared that it would be a two-person contest, but filing before the deadline were Larry Rosnuk, a local artist; Michael Bunton, who ran in Ward 2 in 2022, finishing with 47 votes and Cameron Klemm, who spoke at Council last month opposed to six, six-storey apartment buildings proposed for Barrick Road.
In 2025, Port Colborne Council decided not to act on the results of a ward review that recommended the City’s four wards be reduced to three and the number of councillors cut from eight to six.
With the discussion regarding possible amalgamations in the first quarter of this year, in March, Council reconsidered and approved the 2025 proposal. Because the decision was during an election year, the Province had to pass a regulation approving the ward and council composition changes, which occurred on May 22nd.
The two Ward 1 incumbents are seeking re-election. Dave Elliott is seeking a fourth term, having served 2010 to 2018 and returning to Council in 2022. Mark Bagu is seeking a third term. Due to the ward boundary changes, current Ward 2 councillor, Tim Hoyle, is now running for one of the two seats in Ward 1 this election. He is seeking a second term.
Former three-term Ward 2 councillor, Angie Desmarais is seeking to return to council. She had the distinction of losing her seat in 2022 by lot—effectively a random draw—when she and Eric Beauregard remained tied after a judicial recount. Beauregard is not seeking re-election. Other candidates in Ward 1 are Mark Brunarski, Brad Wilson, Jennifer Foti, who ran in 2022 in Ward 2, and Geoffrey Black, a sessional instructor at Brock University.
Six-term Ward 4 representative, and former one-term mayor, Ron Bodnar is running in Ward 2. The other current Ward 4 representative, Monique Aquilina, is also seeking a seat in Ward 2 for what would be her second term on council.
After a term out of municipal politics, former City and Regional councillor for Port Colborne, Barbara Butters has filed to run in Ward 2. Also running in the ward are Monica Szabo, a long-time community volunteer and member of the Port Colborne Garden Club and Mark Minor, who had worked for the municipality at the Sugarloaf Marina.
In Ward 3, Gary Bruno is seeking a third straight term. He also served on council from 1993 to 2010. Incumbent Frank Danch is not seeking re-election after four terms on council. As a result, there will be at least one new council member emerging out of Ward 3. First-time candidates in the ward are Amanda Emery, who previously worked in the municipality’s library and museum, and Adam Robins.
(Lord Mayor & 6 at-large councillors to be elected)
The full list of registered candidates can be found here.
Current Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa took to social media shortly before the opening of nominations to indicate that he was “seriously weighing his options” and would decide after “watching and looking for who comes forward for Council nominations and what qualities they bring to the table to benefit our community.” Zalepa confirmed this week that he has applied to be Regional Chair and, therefore, would not be filing for municipal office. In addition to serving at the Region this term, in his auspices as Lord Mayor, Zalepa was the Town’s directly elected Regional representative from 2018 to 2022.
A signal that Zalepa was likely not running was the filing by two-term councillor and 2023 Grape King, Erwin Wiens for the Lord Mayor’s position. Zalepa and Wiens have appeared to be allies over the council term.
Wiens, who currently carries the ceremonial title of Deputy Lord Mayor, based on receiving the greatest number
of votes in the 2022 council member race, received criticism by not remaining neutral during the 2025 provincial election. Wiens endorsed Doug Ford for
Premier at a campaign event he emceed at the Niagara District Airport. Despite that support, Wiens has been a vocal opponent of any amalgamation of the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake.
Following the trend of a number of her colleagues, Niagara-on-the-Lake’s current representative on Regional Council, Andrea Kaiser, has also filed to run for the position of Lord Mayor. Kaiser served on local council from 2003 to 2014.
Representing the Liberal party, she came second to Tony Baldinelli (Conservative) in three consecutive federal contests in the local riding in 2019, 2021 and 2025. Also, registered for Lord Mayor is Vaughan Goettler, who ran for the position in 2022 and came in third.
Zalepa’s wait and see approach seems to have been contagious. Only six candidates have filed for council positions as of August 10.
Longtime local politician Gary Burroughs, who has served as Lord Mayor and Regional Chair, and returned to Niagara-on-the-Lake Council in 2022, is seeking another term on Town Council.
Sandra O’Connor, who finished ninth in the 2018 election, only to be appointed two years later to fill the council vacancy left by the resignation of Stuart McCormack, is seeking re-election. O’Connor appeared at the provincial Standing Committee hearings voicing her opposition to Bill 100.
Maria Mavridis, Tim Balasiuk and Adriana Cater-Vizzari are seeking second council terms. Also hoping to return to council is Andrew Niven, who was appointed in October 2024 to fill a council vacancy.
The Director of Marketing for Konzelmann Estate Winery and past Chair of Niagara-on-the-Lake’s Chamber of Commerce, Niven had not run in the last election but finished 11th in 2018. After two terms on Council, Wendy Cheropita is not seeking re-election.
Non-incumbents filing nominations are Weston Miller, a local realtor; Steve McGuinness, founder of the community group Residents 4 A Better NOTL; Nicholas Colaneri, who earlier this year unsuccessfully launched a legal challenge against the Town and Shaw Festival regarding the demolition of the historic Royal George Theatre; Karen Jones-Taylor and Rick Mills.
Like Lincoln, Thorold and Port Colborne, the 2026 election will see the number of councillors reduced from eight to six.
(Mayor & 6 ward councillors to be elected)
The full list of registered candidates can be found here.
A month after nominations opened, all incumbents on Pelham Council this term had registered to run in the 2026 election.
Marvin Junkin is seeking his third straight term as mayor. It appeared for a time that he would be running unopposed, but in early August Frank Adamson, who challenged Junkin in 2022 receiving 42 percent of the vote, filed to run again. Also running are Wally Braun, a perennial candidate, who has run in all three Pelham wards and for regional council and Randy Gananathan, who was on the Town’s Seniors Advisory Committee this term.
The current Ward 1 councillors, Kevin Ker and Bryce Brunarski, are seeking to return to council.
Ker was elected in 2022. Brunarski was appointed in 2025 to fill the vacancy left when council appointed then sitting Ward 1 councillor, Wayne Olson to be Pelham’s representative at Regional Council after Diana Huson resigned.
With the elimination of directly elected regional representatives, Olson is seeking to return to Pelham council. He was first elected to the Ward 1 seat in a by-election in 2020. Also, running in Ward 1 is Kevin Grebe, who appeared before Council at their March 11th special meeting on governance.
In Ward 2, John Wink is eyeing a third term, and Brian Eckhart, a second term. Barbara-Ann “Barb” Rybiak, who ran in 2018, has filed again for Ward 2, as has Thomas “Tom” Svob, who returned to the Fonthill area of the municipality 11 years ago after a career in finance.
In Ward 3, Bob Hildebrandt is campaigning for a third term and Shellee Niznik is seeking a second. Non-incumbents that have filed are Kevin Coyle, a local businessperson, who has served as Vice-President with the local Kinsman; Jane Durotoye, proprietor of Janny’s Services Inc., which provides personalized nursing and cleaning services for seniors and Georgio Panici, who put his name forward in 2025 to fill the Ward 1 vacancy.
With more than two candidates in each ward, the 2026 election in Pelham will differ from 2022 when Ward 1 and Ward 3 saw acclamations.
(Mayor & 6 ward councillors to be elected)
The full list of registered candidates can be found here.
A pall has been cast over the municipal election in West Lincoln with the passing of Councillor Mike Rehner at age 73, the day before the close of nominations. Rehner served for five terms, from 2003 to 2010 and from 2014 to 2026. He had filed for re-election in Ward 1.
Cheryl Ganann has been acclaimed for a second term as mayor. The former teacher was first elected as a councillor in a by-election in 2016 and re-elected to Council in 2018.
The current councillors in Ward 3 have also been acclaimed. William Reilly has secured a third term and Greg Maychak is looking at a full-term as councillor, after winning in a by-election in 2024.
In Ward 1, Jason Trombetta is eyeing a fourth term. The municipality’s regional councillor, Albert Witteveen, who chairs the Region’s Public Works standing committee, has filed to return to West Lincoln Council, where he served from 2000 to 2006. Also running are Paul Griffin, who ran third in the ward in 2022, and Danny Bilan.
Seeking re-election is Joann Chechalk, who has been a Ward 2 representative over three of the last four terms. The exception being the 2018-2022 term when she had run unsuccessfully for mayor. Also running in the ward are Marlene Bergsma, a communications consultant and former St. Catharines Standard reporter; Erin Schutten; Edward Dunn; and Gord MacCharles, who ran in the 2024 by-election in Ward 3.
Incumbent Shelley Bradaric did not file for re-election.
(Mayor & 4 at-large councillors to be elected)
The full list of registered candidates can be found here.
The Township of Wainfleet will see a rematch of the previous election’s mayoral race. Brian Grant, who won by 12 votes in 2022 is seeking a second term. His opponent, Kevin Gibson served as the municipality’s mayor from 2018 to 2022. Gibson, a former RCMP officer, has remained involved in local governance as one of the Province’s appointees on the Niagara Regional Police Services Board.
Unlike the 2022 election, there is no third candidate. In the previous election Alfred Kiers received 465 votes.
Council incumbents John MacLellan and Sherri Van Vliet are seeking their third consecutive terms, while Terry Gilmore is seeking his fourth. Joan Anderson is not seeking re-election.
First-time candidates are local realtor Joe Gonzalez, who also does pizza reviews on social media; Rebecca Anderson; Paul Wainwright, a local musician; Dan Bath, a director of the Wainfleet Agricultural Society; Jeannette Pieterse, Lee Bott, an administrator for the Wainfleet - Keeping IT Rural Facebook page and Scott William Wilson, who has challenged the Township’s Short Term Rental By-law.
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