Alejandra Bravo (politician)
Alejandra Bravo (born 1971) is a Canadian politician who was elected to represent Ward 9 Davenport on Toronto City Council following the 2022 municipal election.
Alejandra Bravo | |
|---|---|
| Toronto City Councillor for Ward 9 Davenport | |
| Assumed office November 15, 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Ana Bailão |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1971 (age 51–52) Chile |
| Political party | Independent |
| Other political affiliations | New Democratic |
| Alma mater | University of Toronto |
| Occupation |
|
| Website | www |
Early life and education
Bravo was born in Chile in 1971. She lived in Santiago until 1973, when a coup d’etat forced her family to Canada.[1]
She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Latin American studies from the University of Toronto,[2] before attending the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.[3]
Career
Prior to her election to council, Bravo worked as manager of leadership and learning for the Maytree Foundation,[2] and as director of leadership and training at the Broadbent Institute.[4][3]
Political career
Early campaigns
Bravo has run in the former Ward 17 Davenport in the 2003 Toronto municipal election,[5] the 2006 Toronto municipal election[6] and the 2014 Toronto municipal election,[7] finishing in second place all three times behind Cesar Palacio. She did not run in the 2010 Toronto municipal election, instead endorsing Jonah Schein as a challenger to Palacio.[8]
She ran as a New Democratic Party candidate in Davenport in the 2021 Canadian federal election,[9] losing to Julie Dzerowicz by a 76-vote margin so narrow that it was verified in a judicial recount.[10]
2022 Toronto election
Ward 9 Councillor Ana Bailão announced that she would not be seeking re-election after serving on council for 12 years, leaving the seat in Davenport open for the 2022 election.[11] Bravo joined the race on July 5, 2022,[12] and ran on a platform which included ending exclusionary zoning, building affordable housing, providing stronger tenant protections, improving transit and building more cycling infrastructure.[13] She received endorsements from the Toronto Star,[14] the city's largest newspaper and Progress Toronto,[12] a left-wing advocacy group.
Following the election on October 24, Bravo won the ward with over 70 percent of the vote.[13][15] She took office on November 15, 2022.[16]
Electoral history
| 2022 Toronto municipal election, Ward 9 Davenport | ||
| Candidate | Votes | Vote share |
|---|---|---|
| Alejandra Bravo | 17,009 | 70.72 |
| Grant Gonzales | 3,192 | 13.27 |
| Shaker Jamal | 1,414 | 5.88 |
| Allie Spencer | 882 | 3.67 |
| Steven Leca | 675 | 2.81 |
| Simon Fogel | 381 | 1.58 |
| Jacob Maydansky | 207 | 0.86 |
| Mosea Houghron | 151 | 0.63 |
| Lazare Shorter | 139 | 0.58 |
| Total | 24,050 | 100% |
| Source: City of Toronto[17] | ||
| 2021 Canadian federal election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Liberal | Julie Dzerowicz | 19,930 | 42.1 | -1.50 | ||||
| New Democratic | Alejandra Bravo | 19,854 | 42.0 | +1.20 | ||||
| Conservative | Jenny Kalimbet | 4,774 | 10.1 | +0.50 | ||||
| People's | Tara Dos Remedios | 1,499 | 3.2 | +2.30 | ||||
| Green | Adrian Currie | 1,087 | 2.3 | -2.20 | ||||
| Independent | Troy Young | 86 | 0.2 | |||||
| Independent | Chai Kalevar | 77 | 0.2 | |||||
| Total valid votes | 47,307 | |||||||
| Total rejected ballots | 429 | |||||||
| Turnout | 47,736 | |||||||
| Eligible voters | 77,306 | |||||||
| Source: Elections Canada[18][19] | ||||||||
| 2014 Toronto municipal election, Ward 17 Davenport | ||
| Candidate Name | Number of votes | % of votes |
|---|---|---|
| Cesar Palacio | 8,293 | 46.24 |
| Alejandra Bravo | 7,840 | 43.71 |
| Saeed Selvam | 1,404 | 7.83 |
| George Stevens | 398 | 2.22 |
| Total | 17,935 | 100 |
| 2006 Toronto municipal election, Ward 17 Davenport | ||
| Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| Cesar Palacio (incumbent) | 4827 | 42.3 |
| Alejandra Bravo | 4546 | 39.8 |
| Fred Dominelli | 1491 | 13.1 |
| Cinzia Scalabrini | 211 | 1.9 |
| David Faria | 206 | 1.8 |
| Gustavo Valdez | 77 | 0.7 |
| Wilson Basantes Espinoza | 50 | 0.4 |
| 2003 Toronto municipal election, Ward 17 Davenport | ||
| Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| Cesar Palacio | 5,127 | 44.99 |
| Alejandra Bravo | 4,336 | 38.05 |
| David Senater | 940 | 8.24 |
| Romolo Cimaroli | 530 | 4.65 |
| Nicolo Fortunato | 461 | 4.04 |
References
- Ejeckam, Chuka (2021-09-17). "For Alejandra Bravo, the political is personal". rabble.ca. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
- Nice, Dianne (2011-11-17). "Maytree's Alejandra Bravo shakes up the civic landscape". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
- "Alejandra Bravo - Institute for Future Legislators at Ryerson". Archived from the original on October 26, 2022.
- "She's lost in four elections. Here's why Alejandra Bravo thinks her fifth time will be different". Toronto Star. 2022-10-07. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
- Royson James, "Faces of the new Toronto: Thompson, Bravo both face fight to end". Toronto Star, November 7, 2003.
- Jim Byers, "Davenport sees one of craziest races in GTA; Culturally diverse, Ward 17 is most politically divided Only Vaughan has more bizarre election campaign". Toronto Star, November 9, 2006.
- Sahar Fatima, "In Toronto's Davenport ward, a rematch for council". The Globe and Mail, October 10, 2014.
- Laurie Monsebraaten, "City's social issues lose out to tax cuts: Mayoral candidates more focused on cutting fat than helping the poor, hungry and homeless". Toronto Star, October 11, 2010.
- "Liberal Julie Dzerowicz narrowly wins reelection in Davenport in tight race". CP24. September 22, 2021.
- "Election recount in Toronto riding stopped, Liberals confirmed as victors". CBC News. October 15, 2021.
- "Toronto city councillor Ana Bailao will not seek re-election after 12 years in office - Toronto | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
- "Your Progressive Champion - Alejandra Bravo". Progress Toronto. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
- O'Brien, Abby (2022-10-18). "What you need to know about the race in Ward 9 - Davenport". CTV Toronto. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
- "Editorial | The Star's endorsements for Toronto Council in Wards 9 to 16". Toronto Star. 2022-10-20. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
- Kopun, Francine (2022-10-24). "Meet the new faces on Toronto City Council". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
- "2022 Candidates' Guide - Ontario municipal council and school board elections". ontario.ca. Retrieved 2022-11-01.
- "Declaration of Results 2022 Municipal General Election" (PDF). Toronto City Clerk's Office.
- "List of confirmed candidates – September 20, 2021 Federal Election". Elections Canada. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
- Elections Canada – Results Validated by the Returning Officer