Nominations Close With 30 Candidates Running For Burlington Council

Burlington's ballot is set. Nominations for the October election closed with 30 candidates competing for the seven seats on city council, and three of the six wards are guaranteed a new councillor. The city's certification process wraps up Monday afternoon, so a name could still be added.

The mayor's race grew from a quiet start into a five-way contest. Incumbent Marianne Meed Ward is running again, challenged by two sitting councillors, Lisa Kearns of Ward 2 and Rory Nisan of Ward 3. Keith Demoe, a director of sales at Kobaltek, and Yugalkeesor Ramdhonee, a former paramedic and businessman, are the only two candidates who do not already sit on council.

Kearns and Nisan leaving their wards opens up Ward 2 and Ward 3, and Ward 4 is open too after Shawna Stolte decided against running again. Ward 2 drew Halton Regional Chair Gary Carr, who is on the ballot alongside Sean Campbell of Burlington Helping Burlington, lawyer Masha Brar and LaserSTOP founder Jeremy Gaetan.

Ward 3 has five names, among them Kyle Hutton, who has spent the last four years with the local Green Party, and Mark Carr, a former councillor running for local office for the first time in more than 25 years. Ward 4 is a two-way race between Burlington Dads co-founder Chris Carter, who has Stolte's public backing, and PACE Canada marketing officer Olivia Duke.

The incumbents in Wards 1, 5 and 6 all have company. Kelvin Galbraith faces three challengers and Paul Sharman faces three. Angelo Bentivegna faces six, which makes Ward 6 the most crowded ballot in the city with seven names on it.