Campaigning during municipal elections in Grimsby has traditionally been a very grassroots affair: candidates knocking on doors, delivering flyers and door hangers, sending mail-outs and competing for space on lawns and prime viewing locations with election signs.
However, a new form of political outreach has now entered the local mayoral race, one that is much less personal than a conversation at the door and instead reaches right into residents’ personal phones.
We have received an updated candidate participation list from the organizers of “Grimsby Votes” for the Mayoral and Ward Councillor debates being held at the Grimsby Legion on October 5, 7 and 8.
The robots are almost needing a recharge after extensively reviewing three of Grimsby’s Mayoral candidates; Simon Duong, Jeff Jordan and Michelle Seaborn in their NewsNow podcast interviews. So before the robots fall into hibernation, let us take a look a final look at their findings.
While election campaigns are full of signs, websites, social media management and carefully prepared messages, few things underscore the democratic process quite like good old-fashioned political debates, an opportunity to hear directly from, and put questions before, those seeking your vote.
Our Panel is back for its analysis of the third and final NewsNow podcast participant, Michelle Seaborn. As with Simon Duong and Jeff Jordan, Seaborn’s complete interview was independently reviewed by three AI models using the same evaluation framework, with untested areas left unscored and material disagreements peer-reviewed before the findings were synthesized.
Our Panel is back for its analysis of the second of the three NewsNow podcast participants, incumbent Mayor Jeff Jordan. As with Simon Duong, Jordan’s complete interview was independently reviewed by three AI models using the same evaluation framework, with untested areas left unscored and material disagreements peer-reviewed before the findings were synthesized.
As the municipal campaign trail is now in full swing, we are starting to see the “podcast” emerge as a new venue for local Mayoral candidates to promote themselves and their platform. For Grimsby residents, this is happening through the NewsNow and Chamber of Commerce podcasts.
NewsNow has released its “Your Choice, Your Mayor” podcast interviews with three of the four candidates running for Mayor of Grimsby in the upcoming 2026 municipal election.
Hosted by Mike Williscraft, the conversations cover a broad range of issues that will shape Grimsby over the next four years, including growth and development, infrastructure, municipal finances, transportation, recreation, downtown Grimsby, governance, community priorities and the challenges facing the next term of Council.
These are longer-form talks that give residents an opportunity to hear directly from the candidates, in their own words, and get a better sense of their priorities, their campaign and approach to the job, if elected/re-elected.
We encourage Grimsby residents to take the time to watch all three interviews and make their own comparisons.
Photo Credit: Town of Grimsby / Fair Dealing with Modifications
Today, August 21, is officially “Nomination Day” for the 2026 Municipal Election. In our last post, we ran down the candidate roster that was still taking shape. But with two days remaining before the nomination deadline at the time of that post, there was still plenty of opportunity for some last-minute movement.
With only two days until Nomination Day, the list of candidates Grimsby voters will get to choose from in October is starting to take its final shape. The seemingly long nomination period has seen candidates trickle into Town Hall to file their paperwork, but over the past week or two, the pace has certainly picked up.