Bonnie Crombie

Crombie was elected as member of Parliament (MP) for the riding of Mississauga—Streetsville as a Liberal candidate in the 2008 Canadian federal election, defeating incumbent MP Wajid Khan who had previously crossed the floor from the Liberals to the Conservative Party.[8]

After being elected, Crombie served in Stéphane Dion's Liberal caucus as co-chair of outreach along with Justin Trudeau, as well as the Liberal Party critic for Crown corporations.[9] She was later defeated by Conservative candidate Brad Butt in the 2011 federal election.[10] Butt earned 43.8% of the vote, with Crombie winning 36.9%.[11]

On September 19, 2011, Crombie was elected to Mississauga City Council in the by-election to succeed Eve Adams as Councillor for Ward 5, winning by slightly more than 200 votes over Carolyn Parrish.[12] The race also included Adams's ex-husband, Peter.[13] On December 12, 2012, Crombie faced charges over alleged violations of election finance rules when she ran for councillor. At a subsequent hearing in February 2013, the Crown decided to withdraw the charges, saying that financials must be formally audited before any charges could be considered.[14][15][16]

With long-serving Mayor of Mississauga Hazel McCallion retiring, the 2014 mayoral election was set to be the city's first genuinely competitive mayoral race in many years. Crombie and former city councillor, Member of Provincial Parliament and federal cabinet minister Steve Mahoney both declared their candidacies among others. Through much of 2014, Mahoney led slightly in most polls, though his lead rarely exceeded the poll's margin of error.[17] However, on October 12, McCallion endorsed Crombie to replace her as mayor,[18] giving Crombie a 25-point lead over Mahoney.[17] Crombie went on to defeat Mahoney, becoming mayor with 63.49% of the vote.[19]

Crombie announced her run for re-election as mayor for a second term on October 27, 2017.[20] She won the 2018 mayoral election by a wide margin, receiving over 75 percent of the vote.[21] She was re-elected to her third term in the 2022 mayoral election by another wide margin.[22][23]

Media reports in early 2023, citing sources within the party, speculated that Crombie was considering running in the 2023 Ontario Liberal Party leadership election set to be held in December.[24][25][26] She was present during the Ontario Liberal Party's annual general meeting in March 2023 and at the Liberal Party of Canada's national convention from May 4-6 in Ottawa.

On May 23, 2023, Crombie announced that she formed an exploratory committee and said that her final decision would come in the coming weeks. She officially announced and launched her campaign on June 14 at an event in Mississauga.[27] She took an unpaid leave of absence as mayor of Mississauga as of October 7, but is expected to return on November 27 for the city's budget process.[28][29]