In what may be the quickest and firmest answer ever delivered by a politician, Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath says she is “absolutely” running for re-election in the October 2026 municipal election.
During her post-meeting media availability on Wednesday, Horwath was asked “are you planning to run for re-election?” and immediately responded with one word: “Absolutely.”
When asked, “Is there more that you want to add to that?” Horwath listed progress on affordable housing, the Downtown Entertainment Precinct redevelopment of the civic arena, the airport lease deal that helped to secure Porter Airlines expansion into Hamilton, progress on LRT, new building permits (cranes), and work to improve the culture of Hamilton City Hall.
“This is Hamilton, this is the city I love,” she stated. “I think that we’ve in a very short time been able to move a lot of the major goal posts in our city, including things like the investment of almost $300 million just across the way – the airport deal, which now has Porter there providing services that continue to grow and there’s going to be more growth at that airport.”
“We’ve made some progress in terms of solutions on affordable housing and hopefully there’s more to come in short order in that regard. There are just big pieces that had been languishing for some time at the city that were preventing us from moving forward.”
KPIs and the Cybersecurity Failure
Horwath hinted at the new online City services and systems expected to be launched in the coming year.
“I’m proud of the work that’s been done so far in the city. We’re trying to change the way things get done here, and although we had a cybersecurity attack, in some ways it’s been a silver lining in terms of moving more towards a data-driven decision-making municipality and one that has changed its systems to make it more customer service oriented, whether it’s for residents, whether it’s for builders and developers, whether it’s for businesses.”
In her inaugural speech on November 16, 2022, Mayor Horwath promised to implement the systems and processes needed to create a Key Performance Indicators dashboard.
“One thing I heard loud and clear during the campaign is that the residents of Hamilton want greater openness, transparency, and accountability,” Horwath stated.
“That means a City Hall that proactively maintains and publishes key performance indicators on how its operations are making Hamilton a better place for its residents.”
Other Expected and Possible Mayoral Candidates
Former Ward 5 Councillor Chad Collins is preparing to run for the mayor’s chair. Collins was recently the Member of Parliament for Hamilton East–Stoney Creek, but was defeated in April’s federal election.
2022 mayoral runner-up Keanin Loomis is considering running again in 2026.
He recently stated that running for mayor “is not a decision that needs to be made right now,” adding he is often asked the question and it is something he is thinking about.
Nominations for the 2026 election will open on May 1, 2026.
Election day is October 26, 2026.
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Published: July 10, 2025
Last updated: July 10, 2025
Author: Joey Coleman
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