Conny Glenn Defeats Incumbent Bryan Paterson in Kingston Mayoral Race

Voters in Kingston, Ontario chose a new mayor on Monday night, electing Conny Glenn over incumbent Bryan Paterson. Glenn secured 16,451 votes (43.25 % of the 38,246 ballots cast), while Paterson received 15,658 votes (41.17 %). The margin of victory was 793 votes. Vanessa Menasah, the former city manager of diversity, equity and inclusion, placed third with 5,351 votes (14.06 %).

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The City of Kingston’s website reports that 38,246 ballots were cast across all 26 polling stations, reflecting an overall voter turnout of roughly 31 % of eligible voters. More than 14,000 votes were submitted online. Council races were decided concurrently, with several districts seeing acclamations and others producing clear majorities; for example, Wendy Stephen won 86.48 % in District 4 and Jimmy Hassan captured 90 % in District 6.

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Glenn served four years as the Sydenham District councillor before running for mayor. Paterson, the city’s 96th mayor, previously served a term as councillor and was re-elected to a third consecutive term in 2022 with over 74 % of the vote. In 2023 he took a leave of absence to run as a Conservative candidate in the federal election, losing to Liberal MP Mark Gerretsen. Menasah, who stepped down from her municipal role earlier this year, also sought the mayoralty.

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Glenn acknowledged the challenge of contesting an incumbent, noting, “The reality is it’s difficult to run against an incumbent – I know Bryan ran a hard race, I wouldn’t expect anything less out of him.” She added that the result underscores the importance of women continuing to run for office amid reports of abuse targeting female elected officials.

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• “The reality is it’s difficult to run against an incumbent – I know Bryan ran a hard race, I wouldn’t expect anything less out of him,” — Conny Glenn

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