‘We have a lot of big decisions coming up over the next four years’: Port Hope Mayor-elect Todd Attridge
By editor/reporter Sarah Hyatt
Back in 2018, Todd Attridge took his first run at securing a seat in Ward 1 for Port Hope council.
He was not successful.
In 2022, he did secure the win, going from more than 1,000 votes in 2018 to nearly 2,000 the last term.
And now, as of Monday night, he’s the mayor-elect after sweeping a four-way race with 3,593 votes for the win, according to the municipality’s official election results. The next contender in the race was current Mayor Olena Hankivsky, who secured 2,132 votes in the 2026 municipal and school board election.
“It’s a wonderful feeling, you know, it’s all nerves going in and then you see (the results) go up (and) it’s a great feeling,” said Attridge, while celebrating his win at the historic Capitol Theatre on election night, which is where the municipality hosted its in-person election announcement.
Attridge was the sole mayoral candidate in attendance at the Capitol Monday.
“We ran a great campaign,” he told the Independent. “The team that I had is just incredible.
“We worked really hard. It was long, long, long hours knocking on doors, talking to as many people as we could (and) to see it come together, and the voters recognizing the work and believing in me, there’s no better feeling.”
When asked about the decision to shift from Ward 1 councillor to the mayoral race earlier this year, looking back, Attridge said: “I firmly believed this was where I wanted to be.”
He’s now looking ahead to the next four years – and says he knows Port Hope has some complex issues to tackle for the 2026-30 council term.
“We have a lot of big decisions coming up over the next four years,” said Attridge, emphasizing the importance of getting those decisions right and ensuring the municipality and residents have a voice when it comes to those decisions. “We need to be able to grow as a municipality but keep Port Hope special because people love this place.”
Attridge moved to the community about a decade ago.
In terms of the big issues, Attridge acknowledged several when asked to elaborate on those.
“We have Wesleyville, obviously, and the possibility of new nuclear over there,” he said. “We also have the cleanup of the historical low-level radioactive waste that still has to get done (referring to the Port Hope Area Initiative cleanup), and we are also going to be doing an official plan so we’re going to be mapping out where and how we’re going to grow.
“Those are all really pivotal moments for Port Hope.”
Of course, there’s also affordability, which Attridge shared he heard a lot about during campaigning.
“People are struggling with tax dollars and water bills, and we don’t have enough affordable housing, and it’s a real crunch right now for people. A lot of what I was hearing is we’ve got too much infrastructure debt coming our way and residents cannot shoulder that anymore,” he explained, adding industrial and commercial investments are needed.
As for outgoing Mayor Hankivsky, the Independent caught up with her briefly over the phone after election night.
“It was an honour to serve as the mayor of Port Hope over the last four years, and it’s given me a real appreciation about the importance of public service – and I wish the new council all the best as they continue to steer the community forward,” she said.
Reflecting on the last four years, she said she was proud of council’s accomplishments last term – and humbly wouldn’t take credit for championing any specific causes during her term at the helm at the time of the Independent’s interview.
However, during her tenure as mayor, Port Hope did see several major developments, such as the return of a walk-in clinic and the Northumberland Youth Wellness Hub located in Port Hope, which are just two examples where she was vocal in her advocacy efforts.
Hankivsky secured the mayor’s seat with nearly 2,100 votes in the last election, which was also a four-way mayoral race. The 2022-26 term was her first.
Speaking broadly about the importance of public service and looking ahead, she also said it’s important for people to be inspired to serve their communities – and for people to create welcoming environments for those willing to publicly step up in service of their communities.
She did also state: “Sexism is alive and well in politics.” She did not comment further on this at the time of the Independent’s interview.
In this election’s mayoral race, Ian West was the third runner-up with 595 votes, while Angela Grogan followed with 543 votes. David Stambrook also remained on the ballot officially but had publicly announced he had ceased his campaign earlier. Stambrook still received 95 votes.
According to the municipality’s election results, a total of 7,031 votes were cast in the mayoral race, which included 73 abstained votes.
In terms of voter turnout, Port Hope reached 43.3 per cent, said Shrishma Davé, returning officer/clerk for the Municipality of Port Hope.
This means Port Hope just barely surpassed 2022 figures of close to 43 per cent for voter turnout but again fell short in comparison to 2018 with around 45 per cent. Going back even further to 2014, voter turnout was reported at nearly 50 per cent.
According to the municipality, this year’s election included 16,300 eligible electors with 7,061 casting ballots and 30 who declined their ballots.
Unlike the last term, Port Hope also isn’t taking home top bragging rights for the highest turnout in the west as Cobourg soared to a 51.1 per cent voter turnout rate. Across the county, Brighton previously held that top honour in 2022, with more than 46 per cent but dipped this election to around a 42 per cent voter turnout rate.
“To our voters, thank you for taking the time to participate and to make your voices heard,” said Davé. “This is your community, and your votes help shape its future.”
Davé’s announcement of a 43.3 per cent voter turnout rate was met with a roaring round of applause Monday night at the theatre.
“Elections take an enormous amount of work – much of it is happening behind-the-scenes over many months,” explained Davé. “Delivering an election that is well-run, accessible, accountable, and puts the voter first is a tremendous team effort,” she continued, while going on to thank to the many municipal teams and colleagues who supported the Port Hope election over the last 18 months.
Tamra Barlow, communications co-ordinator for the municipality, told the Independent the next term of council’s inaugural meeting is set for Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2026, at 6:30 p.m.
The meeting will be at Port Hope Town Hall and livestreamed via the municipality’s YouTube channel.
- With files from Alan Rivett
Comments