It’s municipal election time for Burlington in 2022, and even though ballots won’t be cast until October 24, it’s already on the minds of some at City Hall.

The 2018 election saw an almost complete revamp of city council members, with Ward 5 Councillor Paul Sharman as the only returning councillor.

The last election also saw the highest percentage of voters since 2010. Almost 40% of eligible voters took part; close to double the percentage of the 2014 race.

In total, just over 51,000 of the approximately 128,000 eligible voters took part in the last election. While the use of advance polls was down from 2014, online voting saw an increase.

Mayor Marianne Meed Ward campaigned in 2018 on ramping down on the number of high-rises popping up in the downtown area.

The former two-time city councillor has some work cut out for her in that respect according to the recent community survey [see our community survey article here], which showed that the high-rise issue is still very much on the minds of residents.

Meed Ward beat out incumbent Rick Goldring the last time out, who had been in office since 2010.

Her office didn’t give a definitive yes or no as to her 2022 election status and said she would have more to say closer to the May 2 opening date for candidates to register.

Ward 3 Councillor Lisa Kearns was also quiet on her decision whether or not to run this year. In 2018, Kearns won her ward with nearly 40% of the vote over runner-up Roland Tanner. There was no incumbent, leading to change in this ward no matter who won.

Kearns told Local-News.ca that she is focused on the work ahead of her and her team right now. “My mind is 100% absorbed into what we have going on,” she said.

In Ward 4, Councillor Shawna Stolte was happy to confirm her run for re-election in 2022. Stolte won her ward in 2018 over 24-year incumbent Jack Dennison with just about 56% of the vote.

“I am more than happy to confirm that I will be running for re-election in the 2022 municipal election and look forward to serving the residents of Ward 4 in Burlington for a second term of office,” Stolte said in an email.

Sharman also confirmed that he will be vying for a fourth term on city council, having first been elected in 2010.

He was re-elected in 2018 with 34% of the vote over runner-up Wendy Moraghan. “I’ll be registering to run for Ward 5 come May,” he said.

Interested in running for your own spot on city council? The candidate nomination period runs from May 2 to August 19, 2022, and if you want to work at a polling station, the application period for that begins in May as well.

Internet voting will be open from October 10–19 and in-person advance polls will run for two days, on October 15 and 18.

Other key dates for this year’s election can be found here.

Ward 1 Councillor Kelvin Galbraith, Ward 3 Councillor Rory Nisan, and Ward 6 Councillor Angelo Bentivegna did not respond in time for publication.