Andrea Horwath has officially entered the competition for the Hamilton mayoral seat in the upcoming municipal election slated for Oct. 26. While Horwath had previously declared her candidacy for re-election, she had not completed the necessary paperwork to be formally listed as a candidate. However, Friday afternoon saw her name officially added to the city’s website as a candidate.
Reflecting on the past four years, Horwath acknowledged the significant challenges faced by the city, including a housing crisis, escalating living costs, increasing pressures on neighborhoods, and long-standing infrastructure underinvestment. Despite not resolving all issues, she emphasized the progress made in tackling these challenges head-on.
Horwath expressed her plans to divulge more details about her campaign in due course. During a news conference on Friday afternoon, she highlighted her accomplishments in advancing major projects that were previously stagnant, such as the Hamilton LRT, Jamesville affordable housing redevelopment, and TD Coliseum.
The mayor also identified cybersecurity as an area requiring improvement if she secures re-election, citing the substantial resources expended in response to the 2024 cyberattack on city systems. While strides have been made in enhancing digital tools post-attack, Horwath emphasized the need for further enhancements to make public services more accessible online.
In the last mayoral election, Horwath narrowly clinched victory over Keanin Loomis by approximately 1,600 votes in October 2022. She is set to face Loomis once again this fall, alongside several other contenders. Since the city’s amalgamation in 2000, only one mayor, Fred Eisenberger, has been re-elected for consecutive terms in 2014 and 2018.
The current list of mayoral candidates in Hamilton, in alphabetical order by last name, includes Sasha Austin, Ejaz Butt, Rob Cooper, Paul Fromm, Scarlett Gillespie, Andrea Horwath, Keanin Loomis, Pamela Mitchell, Kevin Walker, and Nathalie Xian Yi Yan. Nomination forms are due by 2 p.m. on Aug. 21.