Alejandra Bravo (politician)

Alejandra Bravo
Toronto City Councillor
for Ward 9 Davenport
Assumed office
November 15, 2022
Preceded byAna Bailão
Personal details
Born1971 (age 52–53)
Chile
Political partyIndependent
Other political
affiliations		New Democratic
Alma materUniversity of Toronto
Occupation
  • Politician
  • community organizer
Websitewww.alejandrabravo.ca

Alejandra Bravo (born 1971) is a Canadian politician who was elected to represent Ward 9 Davenport on Toronto City Council following the 2022 municipal election.

Early life and education

Bravo was born in Chile in 1971. She lived in Santiago until 1973, when the 1973 Chilean coup d'état forced her family to Canada.

She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Latin American studies from the University of Toronto, before attending the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.

Career

Prior to her election to council, Bravo worked as manager of leadership and learning for the Maytree Foundation, and as director of leadership and training at the Broadbent Institute.

Political career

Early campaigns

Bravo has run in the former Ward 17 Davenport in the 2003 Toronto municipal election, the 2006 Toronto municipal election and the 2014 Toronto municipal election, finishing in second place all three times behind Cesar Palacio. She did not run in the 2010 Toronto municipal election, instead endorsing Jonah Schein as a challenger to Palacio.

She ran as a New Democratic Party candidate in Davenport in the 2021 Canadian federal election, losing to Julie Dzerowicz by a 76-vote margin so narrow that it was verified in a judicial recount.

2022 Toronto election

Ward 9 Councillor Ana Bailão announced that she would not be seeking re-election after serving on council for 12 years, leaving the seat in Davenport open for the 2022 election. Bravo joined the race on July 5, 2022, and ran on a platform which included ending exclusionary zoning, building affordable housing, providing stronger tenant protections, improving transit and building more cycling infrastructure. She received endorsements from the Toronto Star, the city's largest newspaper and Progress Toronto, a left-wing advocacy group.

Following the election on October 24, Bravo won the ward with over 70 percent of the vote. She took office on November 15, 2022.

Electoral history

2022 Toronto municipal election, Ward 9 Davenport
Candidate Votes Vote share
Alejandra Bravo 17,009 70.72
Grant Gonzales 3,192 13.27
Shaker Jamal 1,414 5.88
Allie Spencer 882 3.67
Steven Leca 675 2.81
Simon Fogel 381 1.58
Jacob Maydansky 207 0.86
Mosea Houghron 151 0.63
Lazare Shorter 139 0.58
Total 24,050 100%
Source: City of Toronto
2021 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Julie Dzerowicz 19,930 42.1 -1.50
New Democratic Alejandra Bravo 19,854 42.0 +1.20
Conservative Jenny Kalimbet 4,774 10.1 +0.50
People's Tara Dos Remedios 1,499 3.2 +2.30
Green Adrian Currie 1,087 2.3 -2.20
Independent Troy Young 86 0.2
Independent Chai Kalevar 77 0.2
Total valid votes 47,307
Total rejected ballots 429
Turnout 47,736
Eligible voters 77,306
Source: Elections Canada
2014 Toronto municipal election, Ward 17 Davenport
Candidate Name Number of votes % of votes
Cesar Palacio 8,293 46.24
Alejandra Bravo 7,840 43.71
Saeed Selvam 1,404 7.83
George Stevens 398 2.22
Total 17,935 100
2006 Toronto municipal election, Ward 17 Davenport
Candidate Votes %
Cesar Palacio (incumbent) 4827 42.3
Alejandra Bravo 4546 39.8
Fred Dominelli 1491 13.1
Cinzia Scalabrini 211 1.9
David Faria 206 1.8
Gustavo Valdez 77 0.7
Wilson Basantes Espinoza 50 0.4
2003 Toronto municipal election, Ward 17 Davenport
Candidate Votes %
Cesar Palacio 5,127 44.99
Alejandra Bravo 4,336 38.05
David Senater 940 8.24
Romolo Cimaroli 530 4.65
Nicolo Fortunato 461 4.04