Municipal elections in Richmond Hill, Ontario are held every four years, concurrent with other municipal elections in Ontario. Historically, elections were held more often. Elected positions include mayor, regional and local councillor and ward councillors (for six different wards) on the Richmond Hill City Council, as well as trustees for the York Region District School Board, the York Catholic District School Board and for a Conseillere for the Conseil Scholare de District de Centre SudOuest.

1873 election The first election in Richmond Hill was held January 6, 1873, just after its incorporation as a village. The campaign focused on the need to build a new high school as the one built in the 1850s was becoming crowded.

The vote tallies were (elected candidates bolded): ReeveVotesCouncillorsVotesAbraham Law56William Warren98Andrew McNair47Jacob Brillinger83Dr. John Duncumb5William Powell77David Hopkins62James Freek58J.R. Arnold42

1985 election Concurrent with the 1985 election, two plebiscites were held, one relating to the ward system and one relating to Nuclear-free zones. Voters rejected the new ward system 5057 to 5460 and endorsed the nuclear-free zone declaration 7073 to 3272. Low voter turnout was credited to the poor weather and the lack of a mayoral race. MayorVotesLocal and Regional CouncillorVotesWard 1VotesWard 2VotesWard 3VotesWard 4VotesWard 5VotesWard 6VotesAl DuffyAccl.Gordon Rowe4890Tom Simpson681Doug Smith1455William F. Bell1042Gail Blackburn1345Bob Case1108Bryon Wilfert810 Lois Hancey6232Bill Corcoran3468Frank Gallant1058Terence Munsey128Paul Hunter585Bernie Gaten755Nick Papa333 David Amos2814Larry Ashton207James Justin Hogan106 Gerry O'Donnell313 Frank Cavallo381 Steven Rotman747John Fearon44 Joe Pacitto151

1988 election The election was held November 14, 1988. Issues in the election included the rapid building of houses in Richmond Hill which many felt had outpaced the growth of corresponding services. The relationship between the town councillors and developers had also been the subject of controversy.

MayorVotesLocal and Regional CouncillorVotesWard 1VotesWard 2VotesWard 3VotesWard 4VotesWard 5VotesWard 6VotesWilliam F. Bell8887Frank Endean6277Tom Simpson1737Janet Mabley1901David Cohen1456Gail Blackburn2466Catherine Bishop1907Bryon Wilfert1479Al Duffy5386Lois Hancey6002Bonnie Tiffin589Nicholas Legge802Bronwyn Frazer976Dennis Chris919Nick Papa1636Rosario DeGregorio671Isabelle Gargarella4811Linda Christie5940 David Amos530Terence Munsey433Nick Negri322 Bill Monroe4407 Joanne Leroux-Willison138Stephen Kaye350 Robert Cage3749 Larry Ashton1165

1991 election One of the main issue of the 1991 election was plans to scrap the building of a large civic centre in the downtown area, and instead lease office space in Beaver Creek Industrial Park for that purpose, and build a single purpose library downtown instead of integrating it into a multi-purpose facility.

2003 election The 2003 election was held on November 12, 2003.

MayorVotesLocal and Regional CouncillorVotesWard 1VotesWard 2VotesWard 3VotesWard 4VotesWard 5VotesWard 6VotesWilliam F. Bell2373 Vito Spatafora2052Arnie Warner2027David Cohen1750Lynn Foster1830Elio Di Iorio2420Joe DiPaola1444William Lazenby917 Vince Agozzino2006Gary Schecter614Agnes Chan-Wong1257Bruce Gilmour1121Nick Papa2175Michael Charles Latour858Sonny Khan202 Cathy Leung-Rosnuk995Ali Mian399Shirley Chan86Ted Bunker850Lucy Rosina Cunningham294Godwin Chan702 Joe Pacitto315 Blair Kingsland107Ali Zahedi43Jane Robertson608

2006 election

The election debates centred on urban sprawl, especially with regards to the Oak Ridges Moraine, waste management and urban renewal in the downtown area of Richmond Hill.

MayorVotesLocal and Regional CouncillorVotesWard 1VotesWard 2VotesWard 3VotesWard 4VotesWard 5VotesWard 6VotesDave Barrow22007Brenda Hogg15296Greg Beros1568Arnie Warner2128David Cohen2179Lynn Foster4046Nick Papa2509Godwin Chan1627David McCann2661Vito Spatafora14536Carrie Hoffelner1209Asghar Naqvi1138Natalie Helferty685Shiraz Hudda608Elio di Iorio2480Michael Charles Latour1292Anastasios Baxevanidis2276Joe DiPaola13916Don Ciccone746Carmine Perrelli1095Vik Gandhi436 Marg Aldridge609Sandra di Iorio1069Ramon Datol962 Heather Sinclair328Mike McCallum354Arif Khan228 Michael McGouran552Derek Wu614 Adam Dodwell78D.L. Meitz63 Nancy Storey502Muhammad Ali303

2010 election The 2010 election was held on October 25, 2010. This was the first election in Richmond Hill where the ballots were tabulated electronically instead of manually. Issues in the election included regional transit planning (e.g. VIVA rapidways, Line 1 Yonge extension), the future of the David Dunlap Observatory, and debt in York Region. +2010 Richmond Hill Election ResultsPositionElecteeMayorDave BarrowLocal and Regional CouncillorVito SpataforaLocal and Regional Councillor Brenda HoggWard 1 CouncillorGreg BerosWard 2 CouncillorCarmine PerrelliWard 3 CouncillorCastro LiuWard 4 CouncillorLynn FosterWard 5 CouncillorNick PapaWard 6 CouncillorGodwin Chan

2014 election The 2014 election was held on October 27, 2014. +2014 Richmond Hill Election Results MayorVotesLocal and Regional CouncillorVotesWard 1VotesWard 2VotesWard 3VotesWard 4VotesWard 5VotesWard 6VotesDave Barrow23397Vito Spatafora16112Greg Beros3426Tom Muench958Castro Liu3758David West3815Karen Cilevitz3405Godwin Chan4177Carmine Perrelli12320Brenda Hogg14145Todd Hansen1352Stan Daneman937Donalda Johnson950Angel Freedman2007Nick Papa2730Frank Mastroianni1365Anastasios Baxevanidis989Joe DiPaola13269Trifon Haitas749Marjan Moridi-Arcuri923Alireza Rafiee286Ted Schneider819Ted Leider1292Igor Bily190David Cohen11561Alex Khoroshylov289Ramona Singh756Davood Borojerdi-Azar151Karen Trofimchuk3672Keith Menezes734Ally Hemani535Paul Tuen Muk216Paul Pilli196Morteza Behrooz104

2018 election The 2018 election was held on October 22, 2018. +2018 Richmond Hill Election Results MayorVotesLocal and Regional CouncillorVotesWard 1VotesWard 2VotesWard 3VotesWard 4VotesWard 5VotesWard 6VotesDave Barrow23304Joe DiPaola11758Greg Beros2323Tom Muench1827Castro LiuAccl.David West3963Karen Cilevitz3137Godwin Chan4146Susan Korman 4756Carmine Perrelli11418Carol Davidson1687Scott Thompson1076Bob Aurora1228Nick Papa2247Julie Maxey912Abu Alam1238Carol Chan9448Lidia Kafieh1167Keith Menezes636Michael D'Amelio799Mahnaz Shahbazi542Ali Noroozi770Jason Cherniak8878Trifon Haitas211Michael Aziz520Nima Shahi129Mino Tari567Ramin Faraji3706Mike Rajbar284Weibo Cheng3523Sabine Ho2605Murtaza Bhujwalla1269

2022 mayoral by-election

The 2022 mayoral by-election was held on January 18-24, 2022. City council passed By-Law 133-21 on October 13, 2021 authorizing the use of internet voting to accommodate voters for the by-election during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reasons for the by-election Then incumbent mayor Dave Barrow went on indefinite medical leave on February 24, 2021, leaving city council with 8 voting members. According to local media reports, this left city council frequently gridlocked, as there was no leader in council and council votes would often end in a tie. City council meetings were characterized as "dysfunctional", where members would divulge into squabbling and name-calling.

Barrow returned to preside over a special council meeting on September 8, 2021 regarding the future of the governance of council given the inefficiencies during his absence. Four councillors left the meeting in protest before it was adjourned. On September 15, 2021, Barrow retired as mayor.

On September 29, 2021, city council agreed to hold a by-election to fill the mayor's vacant seat instead of appointing a mayor.

Candidates Godwin Chan, incumbent city councillor (Ward 6) Joe DiPaola, acting mayor and one of two incumbent regional councillors Susan Korman, CEO, Furry Friends Company Carmine Perrelli, deputy mayor and one of two incumbent regional councillors Ruida Tian, Founder/CEO, Smair Inc. Rona Wang, President & CEO at GoBest Immigration Services David West, incumbent city councillor (Ward 4) Juni Yeung, music teacher, author, cultural historian, and interpreter Michael Zambakkides, Vice president, Z3 Controls

Results +2022 Richmond Hill Mayoral By-election ResultsCandidateVotesShareDavid West1305333.55%Godwin Chan1016726.13%Carmine Perrelli801720.60%Joe DiPaola607415.61%Rona Wang4061.04%Ruida Tian3891.00%Susan Korman3640.94%Michael Zambakkides2370.61%Juni Yeung2020.52% Voter turnout for this election was 32.10%.

2022 election The 2022 election was held on October 24, 2022.

Mayoral candidate Vote % David West (X) 28,318 70.18 Carmine Perrelli 10,304 25.54 Domenic Bardari 1,155 2.86 Holo Devnani 572 1.42

City council Regional council Two to be elected.

Council candidate Vote % Godwin Chan 25,392 38.61 Joe DiPaola (X) 18,334 27.88 Terrence Au 12,005 18.25 Marco Coletta 7,617 11.58 Abu Alam 2,424 3.69

Ward 1 Council candidate Vote % Carol Davidson 3,201 45.88 Greg Beros (X) 1,856 26.60 Catherine Dellerba 1,301 18.65 Weibo Cheng 619 8.87

Ward 2 Council candidate Vote % Scott Thompson 2,028 39.37 Tom Muench (X) 1,597 31.00 Sigmund Lee 816 15.84 Yehuda Goldberg 536 10.41 Tabinda Jatoi 174 3.38

Ward 3 Council candidate Vote % Castro Liu (X) 5,299 84.92 Juni Yeung 941 15.08

Ward 4 Council candidate Vote % Simon Cui 2,498 32.34 Raika Sheppard (X) 2,235 28.93 Rose A. Weinberg 1,735 22.46 Liana Falzone 459 5.94 Johnny So 328 4.25 Mahnaz Shahbazi 247 3.20 Harry H. Harakh 223 2.89

Ward 5 Council candidate Vote % Karen Cilevitz (X) 1,525 23.34 Tarun Saroya 828 12.67 Richard Rupp 749 11.46 Yuliya Benedziktavich 673 10.30 Anders Lindfors-Wheeler 655 10.02 Wil Husnutdinov 595 9.11 Vera Murano 546 8.36 Sarkis Assadourian 467 7.15 Shohreh Sabaghpour 396 6.06 Emmanuel Lazaris 100 1.53

Ward 6 Council candidate Vote % Michael Shiu 1,893 27.66 Linda Zhang 1,685 24.62 Carol Chan 1,254 18.32 Sharon Chisholm 819 11.96 Kate Jiang 695 10.15 Julie Maxey 269 3.93 Yung Li 230 3.36

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