A News Commentary by Niagara At Large reporter/publisher Doug Draper
Posted October 27th, 2026 on Niagara At Large
Lori Lococo, the new and soon to be very first Mayor of the City of Niagara Falls, Ontario.i
Call it the biggest surprise of the night, the shock, a long-awaited dream for many or anything you want.
The Niagara Falls, Ontario Mayor Jim Diodati, who after some 16 years in that office seemed almost invincible given his backing by powerful developers and other business groups and his close ties to Ontario Premier Doug Ford, in this Monday, October 26th election was all of that and more.
To sweeten the news of Diodati’s loss even more for those who have objected to his leadership even more, he was defeated by a convincing margin – 51 per cent of the vote for her to 42 per cent for him.
Defeated Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati, second from left, and from from former Welland Mayor and Regional Council Chair appointement hopeful Frank Campion, with Ontario Premier and St. Catharines Mayor Mat Siiscoe. All thre mayors endorsed Ford during the last provincial election.
A veteran city councillor who has had an outstanding record of facing Diodati and his supporters down over the years on a host of issues that have to do with controversial development plans and protecting the natural environment from some of his pet projects like building a vanity village in Thundering Waters Forest where a cluster of provincially significant wetlands and the wildlife that support them reside, that ability should come in handy for Lococo as she serves as one of only 12 on a drastically reduced Niagara Regional Council presided over by a Chair appointed by Ford.
All of the best to Lori Lococo – the first woman ever elected mayor in Niagara Falls – addressing all of the challenges she faces ahead.
Another surprise of the night was the defeat of Fort Erie Mayor Wayne Redekop by two-term Niagara regional councillor for Fort Erie and retired RCMP officer Tom Insinna.
To the suprize of at least some Town of Fort Erie Mayor Wayne Redekop goes down to defeat. He decided to rund for another term to al least, in part, stand up against the Ford government’s assault on local democracy.
Earlier this year in an interview, Redekop told me that he was thinking of not running for another term as mayor but changed his mind with all of the steps Ford and his government was taking to reduce democracy and decision-making at the municipal level. He said he wanted to be there to push back on that and to make sure that the Town of Fort Erie, at least, could still run its own affairs on behalf of its residents.
All that sounded good and seemed to resonate well with many residents across the region, but turned out not to be enough to get him re-elected.
I can’t help but wonder if the role he played in recent years as Chair of Niagara Region’s budget committee, during a time when the budget and property taxes across Niagara were increasing by leaps and bounds, may have had something to do with his defeat, although it would be unfair to blame him for increases that have quite a bit to do with the province downloading more responsibilities and costs for services on municipalities.
In Welland, the new mayor is outgoing Niagara regional councillor Pat Chiochio. He had a decisive win over April Jeffs, a former Wainfleet mayor and failed provincial candidate for the Ford Conservatives who Ford would most certainly love to have her win and serve as the Rose City’s mayor.
Meanwhile, Frank Campion, who was Welland’s mayor and decided not to run for another term in that job, is considered a top candidate to be appointed by the Ford government as Niagara’s next Regional Chair. Campion, like Diodati and St. Catharines Mayor Mat Siscoe, received some public criticism for coming right out and endorsing Ford and his government in the last provincial election – something that municipal leaders traditionally never do as a way of taking a stance on behalf of all of their constituents that is non-partisan and neutral.
Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati endosring Ontario Premier Doug Ford in the 2025 provincial election. Could Ford now be considering appointment him as Niagara Region’s next Chair.
Finally, on a cautionary note and a getting back to defeated Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati, as much as many may figuratively or may actually be out there dancing in the streets over his defeat, he is now at large and for consideration as another individual Doug Ford and his government may want to appoint as Niagara’s next Regional Chair.
The only thing that may stop Ford from considering Diodati for that un-elected job is that, as much as he is a Doug Ford lackey, he, unlike Campion and others being considered for Regional Chair, he has just been decisively defeated by residents in his own municipality.
We will see when the Ford government announced an appointed for the Niagara Regional Chair position sometime in November or shortly thereafter, and Niagara At Large will have more to say about the municipal election results and what they potentially mean for us in the days and weeks ahead.
Stay Tuned!
Here is an election results story from the Niagara Daily News for all 12 municipalities across the region. To read it, click on – https://www.niagaradailynews.ca/news/local-news-niagara/niagara-votes-2026-municipal-election-results/
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