A new face in Hamilton, an old one in Mississauga

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A tough-talking councillor and former radio morning show host won Hamilton's mayoral race on a pledge of urban renewal, upsetting the incumbent and a former mayor in a tight, three-way race.

Meanwhile in Mississauga, the city's long-time leader overcame a conflict of interest scandal and a record sixteen challengers to convincingly capture a twelfth term.

The results in the second and third-largest cities in the Golden Horseshoe, the sprawling conurbation centred on Toronto, could not have been more different.

In urban, working-class Hamilton, Bob Bratina took 37 per cent of the vote, nine points ahead of former mayor Larry Di Ianni and more than 10 ahead of incumbent Fred Eisenberger.

Mr. Bratina framed his victory as a mandate for change - specifically to curb the city's outward growth and focus new development in the city centre.

"The establishment has to take a whole different look at how things are done," he said, acknowledging that he leveraged his popularity as a DJ to claim the mayoralty. "I think the public knows that I'm accessible - I've been a broadcaster for 40 years, I've lived my life on the air."

Mr. Bratina's platform appealed to a left-leaning coalition of environmentalists, rank-and-file trade unionists and NDP supporters, said Henry Jacek, a political scientist at McMaster University. He also benefited from discontent with current mayor Fred Eisenberger, who spent months tussling with the local CFL team, the Tiger-Cats, over where to build a new football stadium.

Ultimately, Mr. Eisenberger had to give up on his favoured site when the team's owner threatened to move the franchise out of town.

"I think people saw him as feckless, that he let the Tiger-Cats push him around too much," Mr. Jacek said.

In suburban Mississauga, however, incumbent Hazel McCallion cruised to victory with over 76 per cent of the vote in the city's most hotly contested mayoral race in decades.

Carolyn Parrish, the outspoken former Liberal MP who became a thorn in the mayor's side on the last council, was defeated in her re-election bid, losing to former councillor Ron Starr, for whom Ms. McCallion had campaigned. Another councillor who had opposed the mayor, Carmen Corbasson, was also ousted.

Despite her big win, the 89-year-old mayor was not in a conciliatory mood on election night. Speaking with reporters at city hall as the results rolled in, she suggested her victory was a vindication and lashed out at the local media, which had been critical of her leading up to the election.

"The press has been running an extremely negative campaign," she said. "The media goes out of their way to write it the way they want it."

Her tone was reflective of the tenor of the election, which was much livelier and harder-fought than any in decades.

Ms. McCallion, who usually doesn't run a campaign or release a platform, came out swinging against her opponents on council and took part in a rare televised debate.

Her mayoral challengers also ran much higher-profile campaigns than past candidates: Dave Cook, a former councillor and local historian who garnered the endorsement of the local newspaper, campaigned on a promise to make council more collegial and criticized Ms. McCallion as autocratic. Ex-school trustee George Winter ran on a similar message.

In part, the fresh interest in local politics was a function of a judicial inquiry that has spent the last several months probing allegations the mayor put herself into a conflict of interest by pushing for a hotel and convention centre development in which her son had a large financial stake.

But the increased interest in the election was also seen as a sign the city is maturing, with big city issues increasingly dominating the agenda. New citizens' groups advocated improved transit, bike lanes and mixed-use development to tie together disparate subdivisions into a more cohesive civic whole.

But in the end, the vigorous race apparently had little effect on the results. Mr. Cook placed second, with 7.6 per cent of the vote and Mr. Winter third, at 3.4 per cent.

"The people of this city, unfortunately, don't take municipal elections seriously," Mr. Cook said. "They're voting for [Ms. McCallion]for entirely sentimental reasons."

Tom Urbaniak, a political scientist at Cape Breton University and author of a biography of Ms. McCallion said the election results would, at least in the early days, see the mayor re-assert her grip on council.

But with the octogenarian vowing that this term will be her last, councillors will likely have to be more assertive as they jockey to succeed her.

"We will not go back to the days of unanimity on the council," he said. "If the councillors want to get elected again, or if they want to run for mayor, they will have to stand on their own two feet and they will have to carve out policy positions."

Next door in Oakville, Rob Burton won 52 per cent of the vote, compared to 42 per cent for Ms. Mulvale. The pair are used to slugging it out: Ms. Mulvale fended off Mr. Burton's challenge in 2003 by 12 votes and Mr. Burton came back in 2006 to end Ms. Mulvale's 18-year reign.

Brampton mayor Susan Fennell fought off several challengers to claim roughly half the popular vote.

In Burlington, councillor Rick Goldring won 47 per cent of the vote, another councillor, Carol D'Amelio, took 25 per cent and incumbent Cam Jackson 22 per cent. The election was dominated by discussion over a stalled plan to build a new waterfront pier.

In Milton, mayor Gordon Krantz extended his decades-long stay in office, taking roughly 60 per cent of the vote.