# 1898 Toronto municipal election

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Canada, on January 3, 1898. Mayor John Shaw was first elected mayor by Toronto City Council after his predecessor, Robert John Fleming, resigned on August 5, 1897, to accept an appointment as assessment commissioner. Shaw was returned to office in the 1898 election by defeating former alderman Ernest A. Macdonald, who was making his second attempt to be elected mayor. The main issues of both the mayoralty and aldermanic campaigns were a proposal to build the James Bay Railway from Toronto to James Bay and proposals to get hydroelectric power from Niagara Falls so that the city could have access to less expensive electricity, with Shaw favouring both proposals, along with almost all aldermen who were elected.

## Toronto mayor
### Results

    John Shaw (incumbent) - 12,602
    Ernest A. Macdonald - 8,462
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## Board of Control

The Toronto Board of Control was elected by Toronto City Council from among its members, and presided over by the mayor. At the first council meeting following the general election, council chose Aldermen Burns, Hubbard, and Leslie to sit on the body, presided over by the mayor.

## Plebiscites

A plebiscite was held on abolishing tax exemptions, however, the measure needed approval by the provincial government in order to be implemented.

### Results

    Yea - 11,331
    Nay - 5,175
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## Aldermen elected to City Council

Four alderman were elected to sit on Toronto City Council in each of six wards. Five incumbent aldermen were defeated in the election while an additional four did not stand for re-election.

### First Ward

    F.A. Richardson - 1,226
    James Frame (incumbent) - 1,140
    Henry R. Frankland - 955
    John Knox Leslie (incumbent) - 835
    William T. Stewart - 724
    John Russell (incumbent) - 684
    Thomas Allen (incumbent) - 626
    T.E. Washington - 609
    Samuel H. Defries - 296
    George Wellings - 263

### Second Ward

    T. Bryce - 1,934
    Daniel Lamb (incumbent) - 1,724
    Thomas Davies - 1,599
    John Hallam (incumbent) - 1,490
    Francis S. Spence (incumbent) - 1,365
    Thomas Foster - 954
    W.L. Beale (incumbent) - 929
    John Watson -591
    E.W.D. Butler - 342
    James O'Hara - 125
    George Duffy - 85

### Third Ward

    George McMurrich - 2,303
    Bernard Saunders (incumbent) - 2,300
    O.B. Sheppard (incumbent) - 2,141
    Richard John Score - 1,598
    J.B. Boustead - 1,402
    A.F. Webster - 1,334
    James Allison - 1,263
    W.E. Raney - 1,170
    Frank Moses - 691
    Arthur Bollard - 615
    John Damp -508
    Richard Reynolds - 270

### Fourth Ward

    Wm. Burns (incumbent) - 2,226
    Wm. P. Hubbard (incumbent) - 2,161
    James Crane (incumbent) - 1,888
    Edward Hanlan - 1,595
    H.E. Trent - 1,300
    Thomas Urquhart - 1,264
    William Carlyle (incumbent) - 1,093
    James Jolliffe - 838
    W.G McWilliams -835
    Robert P. Hall - 323
    George McKibbon - 279

### Fifth Ward

    Francis H. Woods (incumbent) - 1,903
    John Dunn (incumbent) - 1,885
    Robt. H. Graham (incumbent) - 1,506
    A.R. Denison - 1,425
    Dr. William Stewart Fraleigh - 1,350
    J.E. Verral - 980
    Robert Hay - 694
    W.W. Farley - 450
    George Evans - 188
    C.A. Muerrle - 171

### Sixth Ward

    James M. Bowman - 1,057
    James Gowanlock (incumbent) - 1,029
    Adam Lynd M.D. (incumbent) - 761
    John J. Graham (incumbent) - 731
    J. Harvey Hall - 709
    Hugh MacMath - 644
    Sturgeon Stewart - 609
    Alex Asher - 599
    Joseph Pocock - 406
    C.F. Denison - 337
    John Brown - 309
    George Gilbert Rowe - 252
    Robert Buist Noble - 194
    George Gordon Miles - 18
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