A pair of political commentators agree former Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath’s entry into the battle to become Hamilton’s top politician is a boost for the municipal race and likely means more eyes on all candidates over the next three months.
Horwath appears to have shaken up the four-person race by officially putting pen to paper at city hall on Tuesday for a shot to become the first female to occupy the mayor’s chair.
She told 900 CHML’s Good Morning Hamilton that the exciting part of potentially getting the job is “finding common ground on a vision” of the city, something she says was “missed” during her time in party politics.
“I’m looking forward, if I’m given the honour of doing so, to getting back to that kind of scenario where it is about collaboration,” Horwath said.
“Where it’s about finding the common ground on a vision that takes us forward and that does so in a way that Hamiltonians not only feel excited about and proud of, but where we … actually we have real results on some things.”
Former Hamilton mayor Larry Di Ianni suggests Horwath’s entry gives the mayoral race “three credible” candidates and potentially puts her on top as the “one to beat” due her long career in provincial politics.
“That’s not, of course, the only reason people will vote for her, but it’s one of the reasons I think that people of all stripes, political and otherwise, will find Andrea a very credible candidate,” Di Ianni said.
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Along with Horwath, the race includes former Hamilton Chamber of Commerce boss Keanin Loomis, former mayor and Liberal MP Bob Bratina and former head of the city’s taxi drivers’ union Ejaz Butt.
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Di Ianni says the mayoral candidates aligned with the Canada’s major political parties probably should “wash away” some of their “political stripes” suggesting voters will want a mayor that will do “pragmatic things” that are good for the community.
“Bob Bratina just came off a stint as a Liberal MP, I would say that if he became mayor again, he wouldn’t be championing Liberal causes. You have to do what’s right for the community as well,” said Di Ianni.
Peter Graefe, an associate political science professor at McMaster University, also hinted Horwath and Bratina may have to shed some of their major party persona to endear themselves to the municipality’s residents and their priorities.
With voting habits in districts like Stony Creek, Flamborough, Ancaster and Dundas having strong connections with Conservative and Liberal candidates, Horvath will likely have to convince Hamiltonians there’s a reason for her running, according to Graefe.
“Voters often don’t know much about the candidates and what they stand for,” said Graefe
“Having a brand on her in that way will help her mobilize NDP voters, but probably will also make it harder for her to reach some of the earlier conservative voters who might otherwise consider her.”
Reflecting on his successful campaign to become mayor in 2010, Bratina told 900 CHML’s Hamilton Today he believed at the time the provincial Liberal’s platforms “best harmonized” with what city council were hoping to achieve.
However, he admits there “shouldn’t be partisanship” with the mayor since that individual has “to be open to all levels of government.”
“I want to be seeing our council … as supporting any senior politician who’s willing to help us achieve our goals,” Bratina said.
Grafe says in some ways Horwath’s entry complicates the campaign because she “intrudes” and “cuts across” on two big issues, the LRT and the urban boundary.
“I think she’s much closer to Keenan Loomis in the pro-LRT camp against the anti-LRT Bob Bratina,” said Grafe.
“On urban sprawl she’s really with Bob Bratina … the anti-urban sprawl camp, against Keenan Loomis who seems more keen to to explore urban boundary expansion.”
Keanin Loomis told Global News he believes the “name recognition” Horwath and Bratina have brought to the race “cuts both ways” submitting that as familiar as they are “that doesn’t mean at all that they are liked.”
“The biggest challenge for us, will be breaking through that that bubble and really getting people to understand that they don’t have a binary choice here,” Loomis said of his campaign.
“They certainly don’t have to go with their partisan leanings.”
Global News has reached out to Ejaz Butt for details about his campaign but have yet to receive a response. In 2014, he ran on a proposed four-year tax freeze, suggesting residents were overtaxed.
Horwath is no stranger to city politics, having been elected to council in 1997 for Ward 2 and staying on via two re-elections in 2000 and 2003.
Bratina joined city council after winning a 2004 byelection spurred on by Horwath’s move to provincial politics.
Di Ianni suspects name recognition and previous experience on city council won’t hurt Horwath or Bratina’s chances since each would likely be familiar to most fringe voters.
“If I’m going to Greece on a nice brand new plane … I want the captain to have some experience flying,” Di Ianni said.
“When you’re piloting as big an aircraft as the city of Hamilton with over half a million residents, you’ve got to know what you’re doing.”
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