Election fever
Is it a controversial option to love elections season? Because I'm getting antsy about Ottawa's upcoming election in 2026. Yes, it's a long way off, but I'm restless for change and the collective dreaming of what a better city looks like.
Councillor Jeff Leiper already shared that he's planning to run against Mayor Mark Sutcliffe who'll be running for re-election. After this budget season in Ottawa, I'm expecting more talks to turn to the upcoming election.
There are a few, specific things that have been fueling my "election fever":
The Sprawl, an independent publication out of Calgary, Alberta, has been a big inspiration of mine for years. They have an incredible podcast, multi-media web stories, and zines - ZINES! In the lead up to Calgary's municipal election, The Sprawl made election guide zines for each of the city's ward. They printed copies of the brightly coloured zines for distribution and uploaded the digital versions online so residents could print the zines at home and share them in their networks.
Obviously, I love when zine-making overlaps with journalism, that's why I made Mid City, and this is SUCH a perfect example of zines' power and potential as a tool for strengthening civic engagement and empowering the people.
I'm totally obsessed and will be knocking on their door for tips and tricks when it's time for Ottawa's election.
The Sprawl's founder and editor Jeremy Klaszus and his team also took it upon themselves to stream as many of the wards' councillor debates as possible, making them available on their website for easy access. They also organized four debates in the few wards that didn't have scheduled debates.
Zohran Mamdani's campaign for the NYC mayoral election has been another source of inspiration.
It took me a while before I started paying real attention to Mamdani's campaign. I think I started tuning in more recently when it was looking like he had a real chance at winning. It's been exciting to see a progressive candidate get so much respect and support. I bet other socialist, left-leaning hopefuls are taking notes.
"[Patrick Gaspard, an Obama Administration official and the former president of the Center for American Progress] describes Mamdani as a prototype for a new generation of American politicians, forged in the Palestinian-rights movement. 'He’s the first to arrive on the shore, but, just over the horizon, you can see more ships coming in,” Gaspard said.'"
- Eric Lach, What Zohran Mamdani Knows About Power, The New Yorker (October 9, 2025)
After voters re-elected the same parties in both the Ontario provincial and Canadian federal elections, it's a relief to see someone else succeed--someone who wants away with the status quo. I love the quote below about his confidence in his values!
"When prodded about the inevitable backlash to his more expensive proposals, Mamdani shrugged. 'I am not afraid of my own ideas,' he said. When I mentioned the difficulty of what he hoped to pull off, he smiled: 'I think for far too long we’ve tried not to lose, as opposed to figuring out how to win.'" Eric Lack, The New Yorker
We've been failing for so long, tenants are unprotected, the housing crisis is seemingly immovable, and our governments are doing little to help resolve the threat of climate change. It's about time we dream bigger and I hope Mamdani's success is demonstrative of a new wave of young, hopeful politicians who can bring about real change.
Also Rajah Maggay!!
In Edmonton, Alberta, one of my long-time family friends ran for city councillor in Nakota Isga Ward, where I grew up. Rajah ran an incredible campaign and it was such a joy and inspiration to watch from afar. She spent so much time out in the community and speaking with residents. She advocates for tenants, transit riders, and workers. In high school, I followed in Rajah's footsteps and joined the City of Edmonton Youth Council to learn more about municipal politics. She continued from there to start a business, host a podcast and has worked for years in city hall. She fought against a party candidate and only missed by a few hundred votes. I'm so impressed by her campaign and excited to see what she'll do next (working for the new Mayor for now, but she'll be in office one day if it's up to me LOL).
Her campaign is a reminder to me of how important it is to vote in your local municipal election! A few hundred votes! That's all it takes to shift the results.
If you want to talk to me about the upcoming Ottawa elections, I'd love to hear about it!