Rivals says Andrea Horwath’s entrance good for Hamilton’s mayoral race

There's little dispute Hamilton's mayoral race becomes more interesting with Andrea Horwath's entrance.

Take that from rival candidate Keanin Loomis, who filed his papers at city hall on May 2, the first day it was possible.

This will probably be the most interesting race in the entire province."

But if Horwath, 59, turns up the spotlight, it will only help his campaign leading up to the Oct. 24 vote, Loomis says.

It's amazing how many new volunteers have signed up just in the last few hours," he said after Horwath announced her mayoral bid Tuesday.

Loomis, 47, offered that upbeat assessment of taking on a new rival with as massive name recognition as the former Ontario NDP leader and one-time city councillor.

Bob Bratina, who entered the mayoral contest in mid-June, offered a similarly positive take on Horwath's arrival after weeks of speculation.

It's good for the process that Andrea has finally stepped into the race. Personally I've always been friends with her and expect that will always be the case," Bratina, 78, said in an email.

Barring further nominations the public now has an idea about choices to consider," added the former Liberal MP for Hamilton East-Stoney Creek and ex-mayor.

Horwath officially kicked off her campaign with a news conference across from city hall surrounded by supporters and party faithful.

She jumps into the municipal contest after resigning as Ontario NDP leader and seeing the party's seat count shrink to 31 from 40 in the June 2 provincial election. Horwath plans to step down as MPP, a process she said could take a couple of weeks.

Horwath, who was first elected to Queen's Park in 2004, expressed gratitude to Hamilton Centre voters, who gave her another solid four-year mandate, but said the best way" to support local residents moving forward would be as mayor.

Soon after her announcement, Premier Doug Ford's office issued a statement wishing one of his harshest critics well. As I said the day after the election, let there be no doubt that Andrea wakes up every day ready to fight for what she believes in."

Retired Hamilton Centre MP David Christopherson, meanwhile, told The Spectator the mayoral race was Horwath's to lose."

She's got such strong name recognition. She's respected across the city," Christopherson said.

Mayor Fred Eisenberger, who's not seeking re-election, said he's very supportive" of Horwath's ability to bring new ideas and a female perspective as well as a depth of experience necessary to accomplish those ideas."

The three-way battle between main contenders Horwath, Bratina and Loomis will be waged in a local political arena where a degree of change is guaranteed. In addition to Eisenberger, five ward incumbents have noted plans to leave local politics.

Political scientist Henry Jacek agrees Horwath's candidacy makes for a much more interesting" mayoral race, which should encourage voter turnout.

That, in turn, could bode well for some of the non-incumbent hopefuls, said Jacek, a McMaster professor emeritus. Because higher turnouts normally aid new people getting in," he said.

I think people are going to want to elect a new face and somebody who hasn't been around that much or has been absent for awhile."

That includes Horwath, who Jacek said is in a very strong position" to secure not only the NDP vote, but also middle-of-the-road voters."

Loomis, on the other hand, is a known quantity in business circles as former CEO of the local chamber of commerce, but not necessarily to the wider local populace, he said.

Loomis says that hasn't been his team's experience with residents while out door-knocking. A good number of them do know who I am and what I've been doing."

But it's not lost on Loomis - who is the only mayoral hopeful to share a detailed platform so far - that he has ground to cover when it comes to name recognition. That's why we're out there hustling."

But name recognition also cuts both ways," Loomis added, saying voters aren't happy with the established political class.

They're not looking to return to a mayor of a decade ago (Bratina) or somebody who was elected to council in 1997 (Horwath)."

Loomis contends he's the only candidate" who can bridge gaps between city hall and upper levels of government, pointing to Horwath's adversarial relationship with Ford and predicting a Bratina mayoralty would be absolutely disastrous."

Horwath told reporters she fulfilled the role as leader of the Opposition and I think everybody understands that, including Mr. Ford."

Bratina, who didn't make himself available for an interview Tuesday, said via email he wouldn't get into negative response/reply.

My campaign will address solutions to problems, not personalities," he added, noting his team continues to work on refining policy details and completing our website."

In the meantime, consultations are taking place on a daily basis and number in the thousands."

Ejaz Butt, a former taxi union official, is also running for mayor. Would-be candidates have until Aug. 19 to register at city hall.

Teviah Moro is a reporter at The Spectator. tmoro@thespec.com