Electoral history Burton first ran for mayor in
2003. Up against five-term incumbent
Ann Mulvale, Burton ultimately lost his first bid for mayor by a total of 28 votes. Burton ran again in
2006, managing to unseat Mulvale by a nearly 2000-vote margin. Mulvale challenged Burton for the mayorship once again in
2010, but was soundly defeated by over 4000 votes. In the
2014 election, Burton won with about two-thirds of the vote. He was strongly endorsed by the
Toronto Star editorial board. He was re-elected with a plurality in
2018. Rob Burton won re-election in
2022 by a narrow margin.
Mayorship In his time as mayor, Burton has been an outspoken advocate for growth control, environmental protection and greenspace. He is a vocal supporter of Ontario's
Greenbelt, founding the "Municipal Leaders for the Greenbelt" alongside Ajax Mayor Steve Parrish and Toronto Councillor
Glenn de Baeremaker, which he still chairs today. He is a vocal critic of Ontario's development industry, describing large developers as a 'cartel' in 2017, after suggestions that developers wanted to ease planning restrictions and greenspace protections to improve housing affordability. In 2015, Burton apologized for a series of tweets comparing Stephen Harper's use of veterans in the
Canadian Corps of Commissionaires to Mussolini's
Blackshirts and Hitler's
Brownshirts. Burton is the founder and chair of the Ontario Auto Mayors, a group of municipal leaders in communities with a large automotive manufacturing presence, advocating for more coordinated support of Ontario's automotive sector among all three levels of government. He has also served as the Chair of the
Halton Police Services Board since 2014. ==See also==