Stoney Creek Councillor Brad Clark is Running for Hamilton Mayor

Twitter is exploding (OK not exploding) with news that Stoney Creek council member Brad Clark is running for mayor. Clark was a former MPP and cabinet minister (as a Progressive Conservative). I'm not sure where to rank his chances versus Ward One councillor Brian McHattie. I'm sure he would do well in Stoney Creek, but I honestly have no idea of his appeal in the rest of the city.

Conspiracy Theory: Is Bob Bratina Not Running for Mayor Because the Ticats' Stadium Will Be Seriously Delayed

Mayor Bob Bratina announced he won't be running this fall for a second term. There's a lot of speculation as to why, including running in the next federal election for the Liberals. However one reason could be Tim Horton's Field, the new stadium for the Ticats which in some sense is Bratina's baby. After a bad winter, the stadium is looking like it won't be ready for completion for the first scheduled late July game for the Tiger-Cats. Compared to Ottawa's stadium, which is scheduled to open a few weeks earlier, and has some seats installed, Hamilton's stadium is way behind. If the stadium is delayed for a couple of months, some fans and voters won't be happy and will be looking for someone to blame and some of that blame might have been transferred to Bratina in the fall election. Implausible? Who knows? One thing is for certain, local media has been derelict in investigating just how delayed the stadium will end up being. Bratina and the other members of council likely have a decent idea of where the stadium completion schedule is personally. Expect an announcement in a month after winter is finally done that the stadium is months behind schedule.

Bob Bratina Not Running For a Second Hamilton Maryoral Term

The Spec's Andrew Dreschel has a story about Bob Bratina not running for mayor again, but instead seeking the Hamilton Centre Federal nomination for the Liberals. That would be against current NDP MP David Christopherson.

I can see the logic in some ways for Bratina, as there's a possibility Justin Trudeau could be popular enough for a landslide sweeping away NDP seats across the country. However Christopherson has always done well in the riding despite the NDP's fortunes. Plus while Bratina was the downtown Ward 2 councilor before being mayor, as mayor with his quixotic LRT stances and musings about deamalgamation he hasn't been particularly been on the right side of issues that Hamilton Centre cares about.

Also I had heard local media person Martinus Geleynse was going for the Liberal nomination for Hamilton Centre as well. He probably has less chance than Bratina of toppling Christopherson, but zero chance if Bratina gets the nomination.

Bratina not running for mayor leaves the initiative to Ward One councilor Brian McHattie as the only declared major candidate. After the Joey Coleman shoving incident, I don't think Lloyd Ferguson will run. Maybe Larry Di Ianni will run yet again now that Bratina has cleared or councilors Chad Collins and Terry Whitehead.