Voters elect new mayors in Peterborough, Kawartha Lakes, Port Hope, Minden Hills, and more

The 2026 municipal election saw several new mayors elected across the greater Kawarthas region, including in Peterborough, Douro-Dummer, Havelock-Belmont-Methuen, Kawartha Lakes, Port Hope, Minden Hills, and Bancroft.

In the City of Peterborough, political newcomer Michael Eamon was elected mayor.

He will lead a mixed council of incumbents and other newcomers, including incumbent Lesley Parnell and first-time councillor Chris Potter in Otonabee Ward, incumbent Matt Crowley and first-time councillor AJ Shearer in Monaghan Ward, incumbents Alex Bierk and Joy Lachica in Town Ward, first-time councillors Ashley Bonner and Jason Stabler in Ashburnham Ward, and incumbent Andrew Beamer and first-time councillor Charmaine Magumbe in Northcrest Ward.

Otonabee Ward incumbent Kevin Duguay and Ashburnham Ward incumbent Gary Baldwin were both defeated.

In Peterborough County, Patrick Wilford was re-elected mayor of Asphodel-Norwood (vote counts are not yet available), Matthew Graham was re-elected mayor of Cavan Monaghan, Peter Leahy was elected mayor of Douro-Dummer (defeating both incumbent Heather Watson and former Peterborough County warden J. Murray Jones), David Sharpe was elected mayor of Havelock-Belmont-Methuen (defeating incumbent Jim Martin), and incumbent Otonabee-South Monaghan deputy mayor and Peterborough County warden Bonnie Clark was elected mayor of Otonabee-South Monaghan.

When the nomination period closed back in August, Carolyn Amyotte, Ron Black, Terry Lambshead were acclaimed as mayors of North Kawartha, Selwyn, and Trent Lakes respectively as they were the sole candidates.

In the City of Kawartha Lakes, Charles McDonald was elected mayor. He will lead a council that includes Brian Bartley (Ward 1), Terry Blackmore (Ward 2), incumbent Mike Perry (Ward 3), Guru Bhat (Ward 4), incumbent Mark Doble (Ward 5), Jasmine Marshall (Ward 6), previous Ward 5 councillor Eric Smeaton (Ward 7), and Tom Hickey (Ward 8).

In the Town of Cobourg, controversial mayor Lucas Cleveland was re-elected for a second term, while former police board chair Adam Bureau — who has clashed with Cleveland on police-related issues — was elected deputy mayor.

In the Municipality of Port Hope, Todd Attridge unseated incumbent mayor Olena Hankivsky.

In Haliburton County, Liz Danielsen was re-elected as mayor of Algonquin Highlands, Greg Bishop was elected as mayor of Dysart et al (incumbent mayor Murray Fearrey passed away in May at the age of 84), Dave Burton was re-elected as mayor of Highlands East, and Tammy McKelvey easily defeated incumbent Bob Carter to become mayor of Minden Hills.

In the Town of Bancroft, longtime councillor Tracy McGibbon was elected mayor.

Below are the unofficial results of all council races across the greater Kawarthas region, including the City of Peterborough, the eight townships in Peterborough County, the City of Kawartha Lakes, the Town of Cobourg and Municipality of Port Hope in Northumberland County, the four townships of Haliburton County, and the Town of Bancroft in Hastings County. School board trustee races are not included in this list.