Bratina not standing for re-election

(Update)
When the votes are counted on October 27th — Hamilton will have a new mayor. The dynamic of this year’s race changed significantly Friday morning as current Mayor Bob Bratina surprised a lot of people by annoucing he won’t be seeking re-election. But many believe he’s leaving to make a run at federal politics.

The mayor made his announcement on the Bill Kelly show, and we were there to hear it. There had been rumblings for some time here at city hall that the mayor has his eye on a federal seat. But it was not so widely expected that he would drop out of the mayor’s race.

Bratina: “I have decided I will not stand for re-election as mayor for the city of Hamilton.”

And in that moment, mayor Bratina stepped aside. He had said previously that there was no reason not to run. But now: “I will pursue, other interests that I have.”

There’s speculation that Bratina’s interest is to run for the Liberals in next year’s federal election — a rumor that he did not entirely silence: “There are many discussions that have to take place before I make any announcement about future political office.”

And though he has not declared his intention to run federally, he did praise Liberal leader Justin Trudeau: “He’s very charasmatic, he draws people to him.”

And though Mayor Bratina would not commit to running federally, what this announcement does is make this office up for grabs as the fall mayoral election is now wide open.”

Former mayor Larry Di Ianni says he has not decided yet if he will run, but this announcement changes the race: “It changes the dynamics, it may not change my, my decision.”

Di Ianni says that he was not considering running for mayor — until now: “I need to give it some serious thought and now’s the time.”

The list of declared names includes former councillor Don Ross, Crystal Levigne who is the first woman to make a run in 8 years, and marijuana activist Michael Baldasaro along with current councillor Brian McHattie who was the first to declare: “I don’t think it changes anything for me personally I mean I jumped in January second for the mayor race and I’ve been running hard ever since.”

Former mayor Fred Eisenberger, who was defeated by Bratina in 2010, will soon declare his intention to run, and today he tweeted: “I commend Bob Bratina for taking on the difficult job of mayor. However, I am disappointed he will not be on the ballot to defend his record.”

Bratina championed accomplishments like the Pan Am stadium and new GO station on James Street North as positive achievements during his term as mayor, but some believe that he would have had a tough time getting re-elected. Either way, Hamilton has not had a mayor re-elected since Bob Morrow back in the 1990’s.