Queen's University professor shares observations of Kingston municipal election

Concerns over low turnout despite close mayor's race, and how councillors are forming opinions of incoming mayor before the new term begins.

A Queen's University professor hopes familiarity does not breed contempt when Kingston City Council recovenes for a new term.

The dust is still settling in on the 2026 municipal elections but there are some on council, particularly those who were re-elected, who were surprised that incumbent mayor Bryan Paterson was defeated by former councillor Conny Glenn in the mayor's race on Monday.

Incoming councillors we have spoken to say they are open to working with Glenn on matters that are important to the city and its residents. But they are also concerned about how the change in leadership will affect the way council operates.

Director of the Centre for International and Defense Policy at Queen's Michael Murphy says people should expect to see voting blocks, or factions, formed over the course of the term.

But he says it is too early to tell how council will function when they haven't gone through their first meeting yet.

The overall results saw seven of the eight incumbent councillors get re-elected. Besides the mayor, the only other race that saw the incumbent defeated was in King's Town where Aba Mortley won. 

Two election races had no incumbent running while two more districts saw their incumbents return by acclimation.

Murphy says it is typically difficult for challengers to defeat an incumbent in an election.

He says people may have been screaming for change but that doesn't necessarily mean change across the board.

Then there is the usual low voter turnout. The 2026 municipal election saw 33.35 percent of eligible voters in Kingston cast a ballot.

Murphy says he found that surprising considering what turned out to be a close race for the mayor's seat.

He says something needs to change if municipalities want to see more people show up to vote.

On the other hand, there seems to be a growing number of candidates being acclaimed to positions whether it is for mayor, deputy mayor, reeve, or councillor.

Murphy says that does not necessarily mean people are not interested in running for office but there are a few factors that come into play.

Murphy concluded by saying it will be difficult for council to bridge the gap between continuity and change but we will see how it all unfolds over the next four years.

Story by Ken Hashizume