{"id":38140,"date":"2026-05-09T19:56:38","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T23:56:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=38140"},"modified":"2026-05-09T19:56:53","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T23:56:53","slug":"mrakas-will-seek-a-third-term-as-auroras-mayor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/mrakas-will-seek-a-third-term-as-auroras-mayor\/","title":{"rendered":"Mrakas will seek a third term as Aurora\u2019s Mayor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Incumbent Tom Mrakas will seek a third term as Aurora\u2019s Mayor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mrakas formalized his decision to seek re-election on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a video posted to Facebook, Mrakas said he wanted to keep the \u201cmomentum\u201d of the last two terms going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cServing this community as your Mayor has been the privilege of a lifetime, and over the last eight years as your Mayor, I have delivered on my commitment to Aurora: keeping taxes low, investing in our community, and making sure growth happens on our terms \u2013 proven leadership that delivers real results,\u201d said Mrakas in his campaign launch video, which was recorded on Church Street adjacent to Aurora Town Square.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBut there is more to be done and that\u2019s why today I am proud to announce I\u2019m running for re-election as your Mayor. Let\u2019s keep the momentum going, and let\u2019s keep working together to get things done.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mrakas was first elected to Council in 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He successfully ran for Mayor in 2018, defeating incumbent mayor Geoffrey Dawe, former MPP and Ontario Environment Minister Chris Ballard, and long-time deputy mayor John Abel for the Town\u2019s top job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He secured a second term in the 2022 Municipal Election against challengers Phiona Durrant and Anna Lozyk Romeo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His registration on Friday makes the Mayoral campaign a three-way race so far, with challengers John Gallo, currently Aurora\u2019s Ward 5 Councillor, and resident Shawn Deane confirming their intentions on May 1, the first day candidate registration opened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first day of nominations also saw the first candidates step forward for Ward Councillor positions, with another entrant at the start of the week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is currently a two-person race in Ward 1 with Lauren Hanna and Rocco Morsillo vying to represent Aurora\u2019s historic central core at the Council table. Incumbent Ron Weese had not formalized his intentions by press time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nikki Alber will also be on the ballot, seeking election in Ward 3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ward 3 is currently represented by long-time councillor Wendy Gaertner. Gaertner, who has served as Councillor since 2003, has stated she will not be seeking re-election and has formally endorsed Alber for the position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Michael Thompson, incumbent Councillor for Ward 4, has confirmed his intention to seek re-election, but is yet to formally register for the race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>By Brock Weir<br \/>Editor<br \/>Local Journalism Initiative Reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n\r\n<a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-facebook nolightbox\" data-provider=\"facebook\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share on Facebook\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newspapers-online.com%2Fauroran%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F38140&#038;t=Mrakas%20will%20seek%20a%20third%20term%20as%20Aurora%E2%80%99s%20Mayor&#038;s=100&#038;p&#091;url&#093;=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newspapers-online.com%2Fauroran%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F38140&#038;p&#091;images&#093;&#091;0&#093;=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newspapers-online.com%2Fauroran%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2026%2F05%2F2026-05-14-01.jpg&#038;p&#091;title&#093;=Mrakas%20will%20seek%20a%20third%20term%20as%20Aurora%E2%80%99s%20Mayor\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px;margin-right:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Facebook\" title=\"Share on Facebook\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/48x48\/facebook.png\" \/><\/a><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-twitter nolightbox\" data-provider=\"twitter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share on Twitter\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newspapers-online.com%2Fauroran%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F38140&#038;text=Like%3F\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px;margin-right:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"twitter\" title=\"Share on Twitter\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/48x48\/twitter.png\" \/><\/a><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-mail nolightbox\" data-provider=\"mail\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share by email\" href=\"mailto:?subject=Mrakas%20will%20seek%20a%20third%20term%20as%20Aurora%E2%80%99s%20Mayor&#038;body=Like%3F:%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newspapers-online.com%2Fauroran%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F38140\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"mail\" title=\"Share by email\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/48x48\/mail.png\" \/><\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Incumbent Tom Mrakas will seek a third term as Aurora\u2019s Mayor. Mrakas formalized his decision to seek re-election on Friday. In a video posted to Facebook, Mrakas said he wanted to keep the \u201cmomentum\u201d of the last two terms going. \u201cServing this community as your Mayor has been the privilege of a lifetime, and over [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":38141,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,3,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general_news","category-headline_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2026-05-14-01.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-9Va","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-16 22:04:47","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38140"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38140\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38142,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38140\/revisions\/38142"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}