---
title: "Ten Ottawa mayoral candidates beyond the front four: who they are and what they want"
description: "CTV News Ottawa asked all ten mayoral candidates outside the front four to explain why they are running and what they would do in office."
canonical_url: "https://voche.me/on/ottawa-2026/news/ottawa-mayor-other-candidates-2026-10-14"
last_updated: "2026-10-17T18:36:41.029Z"
---

Fourteen candidates registered to run for mayor of Ottawa in the 2026 municipal election. CTV News Ottawa contacted the ten candidates outside the front four on October 14 and asked each why they are running and what they would do in office.

Nanos Research, in polling conducted between October 4 and October 8 for CTV News Ottawa, identified [Mark Sutcliffe](/on/ottawa-2026/candidates/mark-sutcliffe), [Jeff Leiper](/on/ottawa-2026/candidates/jeff-leiper), [Neil Saravanamuttoo](/on/ottawa-2026/candidates/neil-saravanamuttoo), and [Alex Lawson](/on/ottawa-2026/candidates/alex-lawson) as the four leading candidates. CTV News Ottawa reported that 1 per cent of decided respondents in the survey said they would vote for another candidate.

## The other ten candidates

[Queen Divine Priya Amber Bakshi](/on/ottawa-2026/candidates/queen-divine-priya-amber-bakshi) is the only woman among the 14 registered mayoral candidates, according to CTV News Ottawa. She said downtown safety is her top priority. "I would like to see the streets clean as best as possible," she told the outlet.

[Zed Chebib](/on/ottawa-2026/candidates/zed-chebib) said he would hold an open audit of Ottawa's finances and call for new management at the Ottawa Police Service and OC Transpo. "With me, what you see is what you're going to get," he told CTV News Ottawa.

[Bernard Couchman](/on/ottawa-2026/candidates/bernard-couchman) declined CTV News Ottawa's request for an interview.

[Suraj Harish](/on/ottawa-2026/candidates/suraj-harish) told CTV News Ottawa he spent 35 years as an engineer with the City of Ottawa. He said he decided to run after getting poor responses to concerns about potholes and broken road surfaces, and that he also wants to address flooding infrastructure after a July 2026 event.

[Geoff Nicholas](/on/ottawa-2026/candidates/geoff-nicholas) is facing charges by Kingston Police in connection with alleged threats against Mayor Sutcliffe and Ontario Premier Doug Ford, CTV News Ottawa reported. No court has made a finding on those charges. Nicholas declined the outlet's request for an interview.

[Josh Rachlis](/on/ottawa-2026/candidates/josh-rachlis) did not respond to CTV News Ottawa's request.

[Ali Shayvard](/on/ottawa-2026/candidates/ali-shayvard) said he has 12 years of experience in public transit and that fixing OC Transpo would be his top priority. He also said he would open the city's financial records to find savings.

[Jacob Solomon](/on/ottawa-2026/candidates/jacob-solomon) did not respond to CTV News Ottawa's request.

[Amjad Ali Syed](/on/ottawa-2026/candidates/amjad-ali-syed) told CTV News Ottawa he has 35 years of experience in the grocery industry and would work to lower food prices. He said he would also create city-managed insurance plans to find savings for residents.

[Peter Westaway](/on/ottawa-2026/candidates/peter-westaway) said he is running primarily because of the Ottawa Greenbelt. He told CTV News Ottawa: "I am running specifically, mostly to promote my obsession with our Ottawa Greenbelt." He said the current Greenbelt is too small to manage growth.

Advance voting is on October 16, with voting places open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. The main election day is October 26, 2026. All Ottawa candidates are listed at the [Ottawa candidates page](/on/ottawa-2026/candidates#mayor).

## Sitemap

See the full [sitemap](/on/ottawa-2026/sitemap.md) for all pages.