Councillors Bob Kwapis and Christina Bisanz, along with John Taylor, won’t be voting. They’re already in.
Anyone who runs again usually faces an opponent. That’s how the democratic system is set up, so that citizens have a choice. And yet there are these exceptions, where not the faintest sliver of competition can be found.
Mayor John Taylor will be elected, quietly and without opposition, to his third term as Mayor of Newmarket — for the second time now. Just as quietly, Christina Bisanz and Bob Kwapis have made it back onto council.
So why is there no competition scratching at the door here?
Did they simply miss the news of the upcoming election?
Well, perhaps the explanation is much simpler, and more logical.
When politicians have done a good, or an excellent job — actions instead of a lot of words — the competition never bothers putting its shoes on in the first place.
Four years ago, only a quarter of Newmarketonians turned out to vote.
That 24.8 percent in 2022 was the lowest voter turnout in decades.
Eight days before the deadline, five of nine seats were uncontested — by the end, three remained.
Does this mean a community is so satisfied with John Taylor’s performance that three-quarters of eligible voters didn’t even need to look twice?
Yes, it does.
And because that holds true again this year, John Taylor is once more at the starting line — old mayor, new term.
In his Chamber of Commerce address on April 8th, 2026, John Taylor could report stable reserve-to-debt ratios, a tax rate 19 percent below the GTHA average, and most municipal assets in fair condition or better.
But the gem of the year is Mulock Park — completed, visible, a place you don’t just mention in speeches but can actually go visit.
John’s comment: «things get done», thanks to the professional teamwork of Newmarket’s town council, to and for Newmarket.
I didn’t have to search long for John Taylor quotes. Back in 2018, in his victory speech, he said: «You don’t build a great community for people, you do it with people.»
And after the acclamation in 2022: «I will never ‘mail it in’» — acclamation, he said, is both an honour and a responsibility.
And because I never quite lose sight of Switzerland: there too, this quiet kind of election exists. As one observer put it: «For those elected, a silent election can be a pleasant thing, because competence counts for more than campaign flyers.»
A small anecdote from Nidwalden, one of Switzerland’s founding cantons: in early 2026, the entire Nidwalden cantonal government was appointed by silent election — a rarity even by Swiss standards.
A canton without a campaign?
Newmarket and Nidwalden, six hours and an ocean apart — and yet both offering the same quiet proof of trust: nobody runs when nobody has anything to grumble about.
The people of Newmarket seem to like a kind of politics that fits like it was custom-made — taylor-made, so to speak.
Photo: Christian Wehrli