Mike Bradley (politician)
| Mike Bradley | |
|---|---|
| 66th Mayor of Sarnia | |
|
Assumed office 1988 | |
| Preceded by | Ron Gordon, interim |
| Sarnia City Alderman | |
|
In office 1985–1988 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
20 July 1955 Adelaide, Australia |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Political party | [none] |
| Spouse(s) | none |
| Profession | Realtor |
| Website | |
Michael "Mike" or "Mayor Mike" Bradley (born 20 July 1955 in Adelaide, Australia) is a Canadian politician, who has served as the mayor of Sarnia, Ontario since 1988, and the 66th person to hold the office. He is the longest-serving mayor in Sarnia City Council history and currently the second longest-serving mayor in the province of Ontario behind Milton's Gord Krantz.
Politics
Prior to his entering elected office, he served as executive assistant to Sarnia—Lambton MP Bud Cullen. With this experience, Bradley made the decision to first run for public office in 1984, trying to take Cullen's soon to be vacated seat. He was nominated by Cullen's Liberal party as candidate for Sarnia—Lambton but finished second to Progressive Conservative Ken James.
Bradley then turned his eyes to municipal politics. He was elected alderman in 1985 and decided to run for mayor three years later upon the death of Mayor Marceil Saddy. The 1988 municipal election featured four council members running for the mayor’s position; the other three were Doug Bain, veteran alderman Wills Rawana, and alderman Elizabeth Wood. Bradley won re-election in 1991, 1994, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2006 and 2010, in particular defeating the 1988 interim Mayor Ron Gordon a second time in the 1994 election. On 27 October 2014, Bradley was elected as mayor for his ninth consecutive term.
In 2010, the Ontario Disability Employment Network approached Bradley about issuing a challenge to other mayors to employee individuals with disabilities.[1]
Active politician
Bradley is quite visible in his role as mayor, in both his formal roles and in other casual circumstances. He has appeared on many parliamentary committees on behalf of the municipal sector, and has made numerous media appearances, including a regular stint as a discussion panelist on Ontario Morning, CBC Radio One's local morning show in Southern Ontario. A lengthy interview with him in his office at Sarnia City Hall also appeared in Michael Moore's documentary Bowling for Columbine.[2]
As commentator
Bradley is a frequent media commentator on local, provincial, national and international issues. He has appeared on Prime Time News Town Hall Series with Jean Chrétien; NBC News with Tom Brokaw; CNN; CBC Radio Noon; Focus Ontario; As It Happens; and the current CBC Radio shows. He appears on CBC's Ontario Morning Mayors' Panel and was a regular on the national CBC radio show The Point. Bradley appeared in Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine and was called by Moore "The Voice of Reason". He writes a column for Sarnia Lambton This Week—a mixture of humour, politics and about life—called "Open Mike", which was described by the London Free Press as "having more laughs than a Dave Barry column." Bradley, a long-time Bruce Springsteen fan, contributed to two books about Springsteen in 2007 and 2009—For You and The Light in the Darkness—by Lawrence Kirsch.[2]
Electoral record
Sarnia municipal election results (Mayor), 2014
| Candidate | Vote | % |
|---|---|---|
| Michael Bradley (X) | 13,174 | 66.39 |
| James J. Carpeneto | 4,811 | 24.24 |
| Jake Cherski | 1386 | 6.98 |
| Fred Ingham | 473 | 2.38 |
| Total Valid Votes | 20,207 | 37.10 |
| Reference:[3] | ||
Sarnia municipal election results (Mayor), 2010
| Candidate | Vote | % |
|---|---|---|
| Michael Bradley (X) | 12,453 | 69.83 |
| John Vollmar | 4,424 | 24.81 |
| Zak Nicholls | 566 | 3.17 |
| Carlos Murray | 390 | 2.19 |
| Total Valid Votes | 18,106 | 33.07 |
Sarnia municipal election results (Mayor), 2006
| Candidate | Vote | % |
|---|---|---|
| Michael Bradley (X) | 12,623 | 57.06 |
| Joe Murray | 6,421 | 29.02 |
| Dick Carpani | 2,747 | 12.42 |
| Carlos Murray | 332 | 1.50 |
| Total Valid Votes | 22,336 | 42.00 |
| Reference:[4] | ||
|} Source: Sarnia Lambton Votes
Sarnia municipal election results (Mayor), 2003
| Candidate | Vote | % |
|---|---|---|
| Michael Bradley (X) | 13,707 | 66.62 |
| Rose-Ann Nathan | 5,716 | 27.78 |
| Tom Hurst | 623 | 3.03 |
| Carlos Murray | 330 | 1.60 |
| Hermann Martens | 198 | 0.96 |
| Total Valid Votes | 20,924 | 37.02 |
| Reference:[5] | ||
Federal
| Canadian federal election, 1984 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ∆% | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Ken James | 24,066 | 54.6% | +19.8% | ||||
| Liberal | Michael Bradley | 11,313 | 25.7% | -14.9% | ||||
| New Democratic | Julie Foley | 8,538 | 19.4% | -5.1% | ||||
| Independent | Douglas O'Dell | 90 | 0.2% | |||||
| Independent | Fred Kahanek | 51 | 0.1% | |||||
| Total valid votes | 44,058 | 100.0% | ||||||
Source: Elections Canada
References
- ↑ Hamilton, Natalie. 2010. "Sarnia issues challenge to Ontario mayors to employ people who have a disability" axiomnews.ca (alt link)
- 1 2 "Jolt for declining towns". National Post, 5 March 2010.
- ↑ Sarnia municipal election results 2014
- ↑ Sarnia municipal election results 2006
- ↑ Sarnia municipal election results 2003