Andrea Horwath running for mayor of Hamilton to help city 'realize its potential'

Andrea Horwath says she is running for mayor in Hamilton to help the city "realize its potential."

The former leader of the Ontario New Democrat Party (NDP) is set to make a formal announcement Tuesday morning that she will leave her post as MPP for Hamilton Centre to enter the mayoral race.

"The work I've done all my life has been for Hamiltonians and this would be a really exciting time to be part of the realizing of the great opportunities that are ahead of us," she told CBC Hamilton in an interview on Monday, ahead of the public announcement.

Horwath joins three others in the race for the job: former mayor Bob Bratina, newcomer to politics Keanin Loomis and labour advocate Ejaz Butt. Current Mayor Fred Eisenberger announced last month he would not be seeking re-election. 

"Like most Hamiltonians, I'm a fighter. I don't give up until the job is done and I'm also prepared to do the hard work," Horwath said. 

Horwath, born and raised in the city, was Ward 2 city councillor from 1997 to 2004 before becoming Hamilton East MPP for the NDP. In 2007, she became Hamilton Centre MPP and eventually leader of the Ontario NDP.

During her time as leader, she helped the NDP go from not having official party status to being official opposition twice. The party won 40 seats in 2018 but the recent election in June saw that number decrease to 31. 

She announced her resignation as party leader the evening of June 2, once results came in. In the weeks that followed, speculation that she might run for mayor grew.

"At this stage in time, the best opportunity for me to work on behalf of the people of Hamilton Centre and the entire city is in the mayor's position ... the work I can do will be much more impactful," she said.

Horwath didn't offer many details about specific policies or actions she would take as mayor, saying she is in the "vision" stage of her campaign and will be hearing more from residents as a next step. 

When asked what she saw as the top three issues for city residents she said "that's part of the conversations I'm going to be having over these next number of weeks."

She did however share thoughts on several issues, from road safety to climate change to the bid for the Commonwealth Games. 

Horwath did say she doesn't want to expand the city's urban boundary and wants to ensure the city continues to grow without losing the "unique character" of the communities within Hamilton.

"Development doesn't pay for itself and we also know we have a significant infrastructure deficit in our city and the more you expand ... you're just adding more and more to that infrastructure deficit," she said.