Municipal Election 2018

Eisenberger Won 13 out of 15 Wards

Eisenberger's support was citywide. In addition to the lower city, Eisenberger also won the mountain wards, Stoney Creek overall, Ancaster, Dundas and Glanbrook.

By Ryan McGreal
Published October 26, 2018

This article has been updated.

The City of Hamilton has released poll-by-poll voting data for the October 22, 2018 municipal election, and RTH will be publishing various analyses of the voting data over the next few days. To start, this article will review the results at the ward level.

Mayoral candidate Fred Eisenberger won the election overall with a commanding majority of 54.03 percent of the votes cast, with challenger Vito Sgro coming a distant second with 38.06 percent of the vote.

Eisenberger's support was strongest in the old city wards 1 through 8 and 14, but he won every ward across the amalgamated city except Ward 9 Upper Stoney Creek, where Sgro barely edged past him, and Ward 15 Flamborough-Waterdown, where Sgro finished 11 points ahead to earn just under 50 percent of the vote.

Eisenberger took the highest vote share in Ward 1, where he received an extraordinary 70.62 percent of the vote, followed closely by 67.69 percent in Ward 2 and 63.82 percent in Ward 3.

Across the lower city Wards 1 through 5, Eisenberger received 61.01 percent of the vote compared to 29.49 percent for Sgro.

Across the upper city Wards 6 through 8 and 14, Eisenberger received 53.46 percent of the vote compared to 40.00 percent for Sgro.

In Stoney Creek, Eisenberger narrowly lost Ward 9 Upper Stoney Creek with 44.30 percent compared to 45.90 percent for Sgro, but he won Ward 10 Lower Stoney Creek with 46.66 percent compared to 42.18 percent for Sgro, He won Stoney Creek overall with 45.77 percent of the vote to 43.59 percent for Sgro.

Eisenberger won Ward 11 Glanbrook with 50.18 percent of the vote compared to 43.65 percent for Sgro. He won Ward 12 Ancaster-Flamborough with 53.51 percent compared to 42.23 percent for Sgro. He also won Ward 13 Dundas-Flamborough with 54.70 percent compared to 39.34 percent for Sgro.

He lost Ward 15 Waterdown-Flamborough with just 39.12 percent of the vote compared to 49.95 percent for Sgro.

Opponents of the city's light rail transit (LRT) plan insisted in the lead-up to the election that it would be a referendum on the controversial project, with Eisenberger a full supporter and Sgro defining his campaign by his opposition.

If any Councillors try to argue that only the lower city wards support LRT, the distribution of Eisenberger's votes clearly demolishes that fiction. In addition to the lower city, Eisenberger also won the mountain wards, Stoney Creek overall, Ancaster, Dundas and Glanbrook.

Only two wards, Wards 9 and 15, voted against him, those wards representing just 9.69 percent of the votes cast for mayor.

Ward-by-Ward Results

Ward 1
Candidate Votes Percent
Fred Eisenberger 6234 70.62%
Vito Sgro 1958 22.18%
Jim Davis 131 1.48%
Nathalie Xian Yi Yan 105 1.19%
Michael Pattison 78 0.88%
Ute Schmid-Jones 69 0.78%
Paul Fromm 44 0.50%
George Rusich 40 0.45%
Todd May 33 0.37%
Henry Geissler 29 0.33%
Edward HC Graydon 25 0.28%
Carlos Gomes 24 0.27%
Phil Ryerson 23 0.26%
Mark Wozny 21 0.24%
Ricky Tavares 13 0.15%
Ward 2
Candidate Votes Percent
Fred Eisenberger 4605 67.69%
Vito Sgro 1550 22.78%
Jim Davis 124 1.82%
Nathalie Xian Yi Yan 103 1.51%
Michael Pattison 76 1.12%
Ute Schmid-Jones 53 0.78%
Paul Fromm 51 0.75%
Henry Geissler 44 0.65%
George Rusich 44 0.65%
Carlos Gomes 41 0.60%
Ricky Tavares 29 0.43%
Edward HC Graydon 28 0.41%
Phil Ryerson 22 0.32%
Todd May 21 0.31%
Mark Wozny 12 0.18%
Ward 3
Candidate Votes Percent
Fred Eisenberger 4954 63.82%
Vito Sgro 2048 26.38%
Jim Davis 145 1.87%
George Rusich 100 1.29%
Nathalie Xian Yi Yan 98 1.26%
Michael Pattison 87 1.12%
Ute Schmid-Jones 55 0.71%
Carlos Gomes 50 0.64%
Todd May 39 0.50%
Paul Fromm 36 0.46%
Henry Geissler 36 0.46%
Phil Ryerson 35 0.45%
Edward HC Graydon 28 0.36%
Ricky Tavares 28 0.36%
Mark Wozny 23 0.30%
Ward 4
Candidate Votes Percent
Fred Eisenberger 4792 54.04%
Vito Sgro 3198 36.07%
George Rusich 378 4.26%
Jim Davis 128 1.44%
Nathalie Xian Yi Yan 72 0.81%
Michael Pattison 51 0.58%
Paul Fromm 45 0.51%
Ricky Tavares 30 0.34%
Mark Wozny 29 0.33%
Edward HC Graydon 28 0.32%
Carlos Gomes 27 0.30%
Phil Ryerson 27 0.30%
Todd May 24 0.27%
Ute Schmid-Jones 21 0.24%
Henry Geissler 17 0.19%
Ward 5
Candidate Votes Percent
Fred Eisenberger 4967 51.62%
Vito Sgro 3596 37.37%
George Rusich 435 4.52%
Jim Davis 140 1.45%
Paul Fromm 76 0.79%
Nathalie Xian Yi Yan 67 0.70%
Mark Wozny 58 0.60%
Michael Pattison 57 0.59%
Carlos Gomes 51 0.53%
Todd May 51 0.53%
Henry Geissler 31 0.32%
Phil Ryerson 28 0.29%
Ricky Tavares 27 0.28%
Edward HC Graydon 24 0.25%
Ute Schmid-Jones 15 0.16%
Ward 6
Candidate Votes Percent
Fred Eisenberger 5326 52.62%
Vito Sgro 4175 41.25%
Jim Davis 139 1.37%
George Rusich 96 0.95%
Nathalie Xian Yi Yan 88 0.87%
Michael Pattison 58 0.57%
Paul Fromm 40 0.40%
Henry Geissler 35 0.35%
Ute Schmid-Jones 29 0.29%
Carlos Gomes 29 0.29%
Todd May 28 0.28%
Edward HC Graydon 23 0.23%
Phil Ryerson 21 0.21%
Mark Wozny 21 0.21%
Ricky Tavares 14 0.14%
Ward 7
Candidate Votes Percent
Fred Eisenberger 6414 53.29%
Vito Sgro 4644 38.58%
Jim Davis 189 1.57%
Nathalie Xian Yi Yan 137 1.14%
George Rusich 116 0.96%
Michael Pattison 98 0.81%
Paul Fromm 86 0.71%
Carlos Gomes 62 0.52%
Phil Ryerson 55 0.46%
Henry Geissler 44 0.37%
Todd May 43 0.36%
Ricky Tavares 39 0.32%
Ute Schmid-Jones 37 0.31%
Mark Wozny 37 0.31%
Edward HC Graydon 35 0.29%
Ward 8
Candidate Votes Percent
Fred Eisenberger 4779 53.03%
Vito Sgro 3682 40.86%
Jim Davis 91 1.01%
Nathalie Xian Yi Yan 81 0.90%
George Rusich 72 0.80%
Paul Fromm 48 0.53%
Michael Pattison 48 0.53%
Henry Geissler 36 0.40%
Todd May 35 0.39%
Edward HC Graydon 32 0.36%
Carlos Gomes 28 0.31%
Phil Ryerson 22 0.24%
Ricky Tavares 21 0.23%
Ute Schmid-Jones 20 0.22%
Mark Wozny 17 0.19%
Ward 9
Candidate Votes Percent
Vito Sgro 3042 45.90%
Fred Eisenberger 2936 44.30%
George Rusich 212 3.20%
Jim Davis 100 1.51%
Nathalie Xian Yi Yan 57 0.86%
Mark Wozny 55 0.83%
Paul Fromm 37 0.56%
Phil Ryerson 33 0.50%
Ricky Tavares 31 0.47%
Michael Pattison 28 0.42%
Edward HC Graydon 23 0.35%
Henry Geissler 23 0.35%
Carlos Gomes 22 0.33%
Todd May 19 0.29%
Ute Schmid-Jones 9 0.14%
Ward 10
Candidate Votes Percent
Fred Eisenberger 5077 46.66%
Vito Sgro 4589 42.18%
George Rusich 445 4.09%
Jim Davis 205 1.88%
Michael Pattison 93 0.85%
Nathalie Xian Yi Yan 82 0.75%
Paul Fromm 65 0.60%
Mark Wozny 55 0.51%
Carlos Gomes 55 0.51%
Ricky Tavares 47 0.43%
Todd May 42 0.39%
Henry Geissler 38 0.35%
Edward HC Graydon 31 0.28%
Ute Schmid-Jones 29 0.27%
Phil Ryerson 27 0.25%
Ward 11
Candidate Votes Percent
Fred Eisenberger 3510 50.18%
Vito Sgro 3053 43.65%
Jim Davis 107 1.53%
George Rusich 81 1.16%
Nathalie Xian Yi Yan 46 0.66%
Michael Pattison 35 0.50%
Paul Fromm 25 0.36%
Carlos Gomes 23 0.33%
Phil Ryerson 22 0.31%
Henry Geissler 21 0.30%
Todd May 20 0.29%
Edward HC Graydon 17 0.24%
Ricky Tavares 15 0.21%
Ute Schmid-Jones 13 0.19%
Mark Wozny 7 0.10%
Ward 12
Candidate Votes Percent
Fred Eisenberger 6445 53.51%
Vito Sgro 5087 42.23%
Jim Davis 106 0.88%
Nathalie Xian Yi Yan 88 0.73%
George Rusich 57 0.47%
Paul Fromm 36 0.30%
Phil Ryerson 33 0.27%
Michael Pattison 32 0.27%
Ute Schmid-Jones 30 0.25%
Henry Geissler 27 0.22%
Carlos Gomes 26 0.22%
Ricky Tavares 23 0.19%
Todd May 22 0.18%
Edward HC Graydon 18 0.15%
Mark Wozny 15 0.12%
Ward 13
Candidate Votes Percent
Fred Eisenberger 6296 54.70%
Vito Sgro 4528 39.34%
Jim Davis 155 1.35%
Nathalie Xian Yi Yan 109 0.95%
Todd May 54 0.47%
Henry Geissler 51 0.44%
Michael Pattison 48 0.42%
Paul Fromm 44 0.38%
George Rusich 44 0.38%
Ute Schmid-Jones 40 0.35%
Phil Ryerson 39 0.34%
Edward HC Graydon 31 0.27%
Ricky Tavares 27 0.23%
Mark Wozny 23 0.20%
Carlos Gomes 22 0.19%
Ward 14
Candidate Votes Percent
Fred Eisenberger 5152 55.01%
Vito Sgro 3712 39.64%
Jim Davis 91 0.97%
Nathalie Xian Yi Yan 76 0.81%
George Rusich 59 0.63%
Michael Pattison 47 0.50%
Paul Fromm 38 0.41%
Carlos Gomes 31 0.33%
Todd May 30 0.32%
Henry Geissler 30 0.32%
Ute Schmid-Jones 22 0.23%
Ricky Tavares 22 0.23%
Edward HC Graydon 21 0.22%
Phil Ryerson 19 0.20%
Mark Wozny 15 0.16%
Ward 15
Candidate Votes Percent
Vito Sgro 3328 49.95%
Fred Eisenberger 2606 39.12%
Jim Davis 220 3.30%
Nathalie Xian Yi Yan 77 1.16%
Phil Ryerson 73 1.10%
Michael Pattison 63 0.95%
Edward HC Graydon 45 0.68%
George Rusich 41 0.62%
Todd May 39 0.59%
Paul Fromm 35 0.53%
Ricky Tavares 32 0.48%
Henry Geissler 32 0.48%
Carlos Gomes 30 0.45%
Ute Schmid-Jones 21 0.32%
Mark Wozny 20 0.30%

Update: this article originally reversed the locations of Ward 9 and Ward 10. Ward 9 is Upper Stoney Creek and Ward 10 is Lower Stoney Creek. RTH regrets the error.

Ryan McGreal, the editor of Raise the Hammer, lives in Hamilton with his family and works as a programmer, writer and consultant. Ryan volunteers with Hamilton Light Rail, a citizen group dedicated to bringing light rail transit to Hamilton. Ryan wrote a city affairs column in Hamilton Magazine, and several of his articles have been published in the Hamilton Spectator. His articles have also been published in The Walrus, HuffPost and Behind the Numbers. He maintains a personal website, has been known to share passing thoughts on Twitter and Facebook, and posts the occasional cat photo on Instagram.

6 Comments

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By RobF (registered) | Posted October 25, 2018 at 22:05:23

I think you have Wards 9 and 10 reversed in the article ... Ward 9 is upper Stoney Creek (Brad Clark) and Ward 10 is Stoney Creek-Winona (Maria Pearson).

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By stefancaunter (registered) - website | Posted October 25, 2018 at 23:33:17

i’m just impressed by two things: being first on the ballot gets you third place and being last on the ballot gets you fourth place. i initially thought the Garfield connection had helped Jim Davis but no, he was just first. i could have ran and gotten third.

Comment edited by stefancaunter on 2018-10-25 23:37:25

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By George (registered) | Posted October 25, 2018 at 23:46:17

Interesting to note that Veto Sgro did not receive a majority of votes in any ward. Not a one! Fred, on the other hand, received a majority of the votes in 12 wards!

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By JasonL (registered) | Posted October 26, 2018 at 07:49:59

Here is what I was really interested in finding out, aside from how Fred did in suburban wards: which 'anti-LRT' councillors did he beat in their own wards!? We have our answers:

He earned more votes in Ward 10 than Maria Pearson did.

He earned more votes in Ward 13 than Vanderbeek did, and... (my favourite one)...

He earned more votes in Ward 9 than Brad Clark did. Hmmm, apparently 'everyone in my ward hates the LRT project' isn't even close to accurate after all.

In Ward 14, Terry Whitehead narrowly out-voted Fred 5,300-5,100.

Fred needs to publicize this data and lean HEAVILY on it. Next time those councillors start squawking about how all of their constituents don't like LRT, Fred should remind the 3 of them that 'their' constituents seem to prefer him over them, and he and Terry were a dead heat in Ward 14.

Comment edited by JasonL on 2018-10-26 07:51:00

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By jjoyward3 (registered) | Posted October 26, 2018 at 10:28:17

Throughout the election, Eisenberger labeled Sgro as a one issue wonder, while at the same time contrasting his own campaign as one promoting a broad-based plan for economic renewal [LRT, broadening the tax base, economic development, rural broadband access, etc.]. It seems disingenuous for him [after the results rolled in] to now re-characterize the election as an LRT referendum. While mayor Fred has a strong mandate to implement his agenda [including LRT], he shouldn't just assume that the people of Hamilton are that forgetful just after an election. Maybe he should have given it a week or two for amnesia to set in, first?

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By Kevin (registered) | Posted October 26, 2018 at 14:20:31

Fred won, fair and square. Game over.

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