- MacPolitics: An Insider’s Account Of Andy Fillmore’s Campaign – The Real Worry About Anti-Trudeau Sentiment; Meet The Mayoral Candidates Who Took Anti-Trudeau Votes
By Andrew Macdonald
In the last week of the HRM elections – held last Saturday – members of Andy Fillmore’s inner circle – his campaign toilers – were not predicting a win by Fillmore.
Those campaign toilers, who I am not naming in this article – would only say time will tell on voting day Saturday how Fillmore would be received by the voters.
When ballots were counted Saturday night, Fillmore easily won the race. Fillmore took 52,413 votes, or received 42.4% of the ballots cast for his candidacy.
Victorious HRM Mayoral candidate, Andy Fillmore addresses supporters at his celebration party last Saturday, Oct. 19th, 2024 at the Lion’s Head Tavern.
Waye Mason was left in the dust in second spot with 30,906 votes, or 25 per cent of the vote.
Retiring Halifax Mayor Mike Savage and city councillor Waye Mason, who was defeated Oct. 19th, 2024 on his mayoral bid are seen together in this file photo at a sod-turning ceremony at Seton Ridge. (The Notebook).
Last winter, when Mike Savage announced he would not seek a fourth historic term, Fillmore began thinking of a mayoral candidacy.
Back then, his inner circle wondered about the anti-Trudeau factor. After all, Fillmore had been a nine-year MP in the Liberal Justin Trudeau government.
Down 20 per cent in various political polls, PM Justin Trudeau leaving the NSCC at Truro on Friday, May 24th, 2024. (The Notebook)
Down 20 per cent in political polls, Trudeau’s unpopularity with Canadians & Nova Scotians was a big bogey man in the Fillmore mayoralty race.
According to his inner circle the anti-Trudeau vote was a factor in the HRM election, driving anti-Trudeau support to the candidacies of Pam Lovelace & Jim Hoskins.
HRM Mayor contender Pam Lovelace did well in a respectable third-place finish because she took anti-Trudeau votes. She is seen in this file photo at a recent VIA Rail event at a meeting of the Halifax Chamber of Commerce. (The Notebook).
Lovelace, a first term regional councillor, finished the HRM mayoral race in a respectable third – doing well because she received some of the anti-Trueau vote. This also drove votes to Hoskins, who came fourth in a field of 16 candidates.
Former Halifax Regional Police officer Jim Hoskins came fourth in HRM’s mayoral election. He received anti-Trudeau votes. (The Notebook).
Lovelace took 19,745 votes, receiving 16 per cent of the vote. Hoskins took 7,220 ballots or took 5.8% of the vote.
HRM mayoral contender Darryl Johnson is an African Nova Scotian pioneering HRM mayor contender – the first Black man ever to run for the city’s top political job. HRM was created in 1996. (Contributed).
Other anti-Trudeau votes went to a former Tim Houston 2021 Tory candidate: Darryl Johnson, who came fifth with 4.667 votes, 3.8 per cent of the ballots.
“I do not think Pam or Hoskins would have done as well, had it not been for anti-Trudeau votes going to them,” says the Fillmore handler.
Insiders with Fillmore detailed to The Macdonald Notebook that the anti-Liberal Trudeau sentiment was real, and they were hoping those in that voting block would go to Lovelace, Hoskins and Johnson – and not go to Waye Mason, a known socialist. Mason’s campaign manager, was former NDP MLA, Mat Whynot.
That strategy though could have been dangerous, because votes against Liberal Fillmore to Lovelace, Hoskins and Johnson could have allowed Mason to go up the middle and win.
I asked Fillmore’s handler if the campaign worried about the Trudeau factor, Trudeau being so unpopular: “Oh, yes, you always worry about that.”
In the end, Fillmore easily coasted to victory Saturday night.
Liberal Brand Strong in Halifax
The take-away of Liberal Andy Fillmore winning the HRM mayoral race is that voters did not punish him with a possible defeat for being a Liberal MP the last nine years – because he easily cruised to a mayoral election win. Fillmore’s election win shows a Liberal can win in Halifax.
Fillmore’s mayoral bid could also offer hints into the federal election in Halifax, Fillmore’s old seat. His handler says the Fillmore win shows the Liberal brand in Halifax is still strong.
Mark Boudreau is running for the federal Conservatives in Halifax, where Tory polling shows a three-way race between Tories, NDP and Liberals. (The Notebook).
NDP handlers for Lisa Robert who accompanied her on a door-knocking mission recently in Halifax Northend. (The Notebook).
Tory polling in the federal HFX seat shows a three-way race between Liberals, Tories and NDP. The NDP standard-bearer is Lisa Roberts, while Mark Boudreau will carry the Tory colours and it is expected Lenore Zann will run for the Liberal nod, she is a former Truro Liberal MP and a former NDP MLA, too.
“Andy did very, very well in a three person competitive race,” one of his campaign team toilers said after the ballots were cast. This person is not authorized to speak for the Fillmore campaign, so I am not naming this Fillmore handler.
Question: With Trudeau being so unpopular and Fillmore voting for the hugely unpopular Carbon Tax, how did Fillmore pull off a win and not have those factors damage his campaign?
Fillmore insider replies to The Macdonald Notebook: “That is what is particularly remarkable, is that in the face of the negativity around the Liberal Party federally, and Justin Trudeau, Fillmore still pulled it off a win. That speaks to his own personal support to draw support.”
Question: How did Fillmore distance himself from unpopular Trudeau in the mayoral election?
Fillmore insider: “I do not think the issues that Andy talked about related to Trudeau. Andy focused on solutions, ‘let’s just fix the potholes’.”
When he announced his mayoral bid at the lobby of Dartmouth’s Alderney Landing in July, Fillmore said he would freeze HRM property taxes for two years.
Andy Filmore received an enthusiastic welcome at an event in Dartmouth announcing his mayoral candidacy in July 2024. (The Notebook).
That policy helped define Fillmore as his own man, and contrasted with Waye Mason voting for a 6.9 per cent property tax increase, which the Canadian Taxpayers Federation wrote in The Macdonald Notebook meant for each HRM house owner an extra cost of circa $250.
“Andy focused on a combination of fiscal responsibility, plus a recognition that there is something not working with public transit, that it has to work better and more efficiently than is currently the case. He focused on the fact you can’t turn every public park, that taxpayers pay for, into encampment sites for every person that wants to pitch a tent,” says the Fillmore insider.
Fillmore’s victory party Saturday night at the Lion’s Head Tavern was jammed to the rafters. That pub is in the Halifax Northend.
A couple of hundred people packed the room. “There were a lot of Conservatives there, and there were a lot of Liberals.”
Fillmore made a point of coalescing Tory supporters to his campaign – he needed both Tory and Liberal support.
The nation’s top Tory organizer, Fred Delorey, attended the Fillmore victory party. He was a strategic advisor with Fillmore’s election bid. Premier Houston’s top fundraiser, the chief Tory bagman, David Henderson, took in the celebration and leading NS Tory strategist, the bagpipe-playing Tyler Cameron helped Fillmore celebrate the night.
Attending HRM mayor Andy Fillmore’s victory party on Oct. 19th, 2024 included political powerbrokers, Fred Delorey, Liberal Dale Palmeter, middle, and Top Tory, Tyler Cameron. Delorey is one of the most powerful Conservative organizers in Ottawa, while Cameron has a close relationship with Premier Tim Houston.
On the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, Delorey, who resides in Ottawa, and is from Monastery, Antigonish County, congratulated Fillmore: “I’m proud to have served as Strategic Advisor to Andy Fillmore in his successful campaign to become Mayor of Halifax. While Andy and I come from different political backgrounds, this campaign was a testament to how diverse perspectives can unite for the greater good. Congratulations to Andy and team on a well-deserved win. I look forward to seeing what his leadership brings for Halifax,” said Delorey, who ran for the Conservatives in Central Nova in 2015, losing to Sean Fraser, a Liberal MP.
Top Tory, Tyler Cameron, right, worked on Fillmore’s mayoral bid. On social media, Cameron, the bagpiping Tory organizer. wrote: It’s been an honour to work on Andy Fillmore’s campaign. Andy will be a great mayor of our capital city.”
Liberals like Joanne Macrae and Dale Palmeter worked on the Fillmore campaign, in fact, Macrae was Fillmore’s campaign manager. Palmeter served as an election advisor.
Cameron MacKeen, Premier Houston’s campaign manager, also advised Fillmore’s mayoral bid efforts.
Andy Fillmore chats with a journalist after his convincing win as HRM mayor on voting night, Oct. 19th, 2024.
The Fillmore campaign handler says with a “bunch of lefties (being) elected” as incoming regional councillors, “the question then is going to become can or will Tim Houston consider doing what (Doug) Ford did (in Ontario) and offer strong mayor powers to Fillmore because the council is very left (leaning).”
Labour unions sent out endorsement postcards for Northend candidate Virginia Hinch, who got elected. They also sent a card on behalf of Cathy Cirven, who was defeated in the Southend district. Laura White’s official agent, Cameron White, said Laura “was not the NDP candidate for District 7.” White was elected to regional council in the Southend district.
White has been described as being a progressive politico with fiscal responsibilities.
The Fillmore insider described re-elected candidates Sam Austin of Dartmouth, Patty Cuttell of Spryfield, and Shaun Clearly of the Westend as all left-leaning politicos.
- MacPolitics: Andy Fillmore ‘Not Running Away From Something, Running for Something’
By Andrew Macdonald
Winning Halifax mayoral contender Andy Fillmore stressed during his mayoral launch last summer that he was not running away from something, instead he was running for something.
And had three-term mayor Mike Savage been willing to run for a fourth term, instead of retiring from the job before the municipal election yesterday, Fillmore suggested he would have run again as a Member of Parliament.
But, Savage did not re-offer and having been denied a cabinet post by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Fillmore began eying the mayoralty for Halifax Regional Municipality last spring
Having an urban planning degree from Harvard University, many thought Fillmore would go into Trudeau’s cabinet. Nova Scotia has only one cabinet minister, while Newfoundland and New Brunswick each have two.
Andy Fillmore had a convincing win as HRM mayoral contender. He is now HRM-Mayor-Elect.
Fillmore will have more power to make changes in society as mayor than as a backbencher in Ottawa.
During the mayoral campaign, I asked Fillmore how he would be able to distance himself from the increasingly unpopular Trudeau, who is 20 points behind Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre in various polls, since Fillmore, after all, was part of the Trudeau government.
“I am very proud of the work I did as a Member of Parliament,” responds Fillmore. “I went there and did what I said I would do and that has been to be a champion for our city. I moved us from one of the least invested in ridings with federal dollars to one of the most invested in ridings with federal dollars. I am extremely proud of that record.
“This is happening because of my love for my city, and it is happening now because Mike Savage has said he is not re-offering. I do not see any other candidates with the skill set that I have, which is…required to guide HRM through this incredible period of growth, and the challenges and opportunities that come with it,” he tells The Macdonald Notebook.
“I am not running away from anything, I am running to my service to Halifax, and it is the service that I have given my whole career to. For me, nothing is changing, I am just going to be able to give service to Halifax more directly (as mayor) and sleep every night in my own city, instead of half the year in Ottawa.”
I pressed Fillmore on how he can distance himself from Trudeau.
“People know I have not been a partisan Member of Parliament, that I have always just been focused on my constituency, focused on my city, and that is what people see now,” Fillmore says.
“Sure some people are asking, ‘Well, are you leaving the (Liberal) party when the polls are looking dicey?’ It has nothing to do with that, if Mike (Savage) was re-offering to run as mayor in 2024, I would support him and I would be running to be MP again.
“But, that is not what the world had in store for us and Mike (Savage) is moving on to something different and it is critically important that we get a new mayor that can manage this city effectively and in a cost-effective way that protects our neighbourhoods while allowing the growth to happen in a really smart and sensible way,” said Fillmore on the campaign trail.
Fillmore easily coasted to a win as incoming HRM mayor.
