
Hamiltonians head to the polls today after campaign full of promise and problems
CBC
Big names, policy flip flops, hateful vandalism, privacy breaches and guaranteed change.
Those are just a few ways to describe the winding road to election day in Hamilton.
The pressure has been building since the start of the year, when some people announced their political intentions early and try to get a head start on the competition.
It all culminates today, with residents heading to the polls and casting their ballots to decide who their mayor, councillor and school board trustee will be for the next four years.
Residents have been calling for change, and this election, they're bound to get some.
There will be a new mayor and at least six new councillors, some of whom have been representing their wards for decades.
The outgoing politicians are:
Peter Graefe, a McMaster University associate professor of political science, said councillors who run for re-election usually win, but it isn't a safe bet — especially this year as the appetite for change is apparent.
"A number of the sitting councillors running again are facing strong challenges, which again, there's a possibility one or two of them may lose," he said.
Graefe said Wards 2, 3, 7 and 10 are among the ones to watch.
Across the board, there will be new faces and there have already been many promises, but what policies end up finding support, how each elected official represents their residents and how those politicians choose to lead are all questions that won't get answered until after the election.
Clifton van der Linden, an assistant professor of political science at McMaster and founder of Vox Pop Labs (the creator of VoteCompass), said VoteCompass data out of Hamilton points to some of main issues on the minds of residents.
"You certainly see an emphasis on housing, property taxes, municipal services," he said.
"Also in Hamilton, in particular, an emphasis on the way the city is managed, and the way city council operates and the way councillors behave is something that seems to be fairly prominent among Hamilton voters."