Heather Wright/The Independent

There are a lot of familiar faces, some in new places, as the first would-be politicians file their papers to run in the Oct. 26 municipal elections.

The nomination period opened May 1. One of the first people to file was Joel Field. The long-time Petrolia councillor and now deputy mayor has thrown his hat into the ring to be mayor. Current Mayor Brad Loosley announced earlier this year he would not seek re-election.

There are also two people who have filed their papers to run for council, including incumbent Bill Clark and newcomer Miranda Cole.

In other races across Lambton, Todd Case is the first to file in Warwick Township for the position of mayor. Case has served 22 years as mayor. He first won in 2001 and retired in 2018. Case returned to politics in 2022, defeating the incumbent Jackie Rombouts.

Jamie Armstrong is seeking the mayor’s seat in Brooke-Alvinston. He ran in the 2022 election which David Ferguson became mayor. So far, he’s the only one in the municipality who has filed in Brooke-Alvinston.

In St. Clair Township, Steve Arnold is attempting a comeback. The first mayor of the amalgamated township, who stepped down in 2022, is running for the deputy mayor’s job. 

Incumbent Jeff Agar has also filed his papers to run in the mayoralty race. He says he has accomplished all of the things he set out to do in the 2022 election but he still wants to serve the people of the township. 

There are also several people who have already filed nomination papers for council in St. Clair as well, including Tracy Kingston, who was a municipal councillor in 2022 but lost her bid to become mayor in that year’s election and current council member Cathy Langis. Both are looking to represent Ward One. Alex Machan is also running in Ward One.

Both Brad Langstaff and Bill Myers have filed their papers to run for the Ward Two seats they currently hold.

Al Broad is seeking his fourth term as mayor in Dawn-Euphemia. He filed his papers Monday.

And Ian Veen would like to serve as mayor of Lambton’s smallest municipality, Oil Springs, again. Veen has been the mayor since 2014 and was acclaimed in 2022.

In Enniskillen Township current councillors Judy Krall and Chad Burk also submitted their nomination papers May 4.

Greg Grimes has thrown his hat in the ring to become the mayor of Point Edward. Grimes has been on council in 2018 and is currently the chair of the St. Clair Region Conservation Authority.

In Lambton Shores, incumbent Dan Sageman has filed his papers to run for deputy mayor. He’s the only one who is officially running so far.

And in another interesting Lambton race, Sarnia City/County councillors Chrissy McRoberts and Bill Dennis have both filed their papers to seek the mayor’s chair in their communities. Dennis signalled his run for the mayor’s seat in 2023 – just one year after being elected for his second term of council.

In total, eight people have already filed their papers to run in Sarnia, including former police services board chair Paul Wiersma.

So far, no one has filed to run in Plympton-Wyoming.

Municipalities across Lambton have extensive information about the 2026 Municipal Elections on their websites, including how to get on the voters’ list.