Barrie mayor not seeking fourth term, will run for Liberals in provincial election

Jeff Lehman will be running for public office this year, but it will not be to seek re-election as the mayor of Barrie, Ont., for a fourth term.

Instead, Lehman has announced he intends to run as the Liberal Party’s candidate in the riding of Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte in the upcoming Ontario election.

“I’ve always been proud to serve the people of Barrie as mayor and am thankful for their continuous support,” Lehman said in a news release.

The 46-year-old has served as Barrie mayor since 2010 and is the current chairman of Ontario’s Big City Mayor’s caucus.

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In the past two elections, Lehman won in landslides with more than 90 per cent of the vote in both 2014 and 2018.

He previously represented Barrie’s Ward 2 as a city councillor from 2006 until becoming mayor.

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“Jeff Lehman has provided Barrie with steady, strong leadership for the last twelve years,” said Ontario Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca.

“Steady, strong leadership is exactly what Ontario Liberals are going to bring to Queen’s Park and Jeff is the kind of leader I want on my team to clean up Doug Ford’s mess.”

Lehman is up against Progressive Conservative Party incumbent Doug Downey who was elected in 2018 and is currently Ontario’s attorney general.

Educator and community advocate Pekka Reinio is running for the New Democrats.