Hazel McCallion, Mississauga's 89-year-old political dynamo, proved that a handful of council foes and a judicial inquiry were no match for Canada's longest-serving mayor.
Despite facing 16 challengers, McCallion easily won her 12th consecutive term in office on Monday night.
"It feels great," she told CTV's Canada AM during a phone interview on Tuesday. "I've always put Mississauga first and I will always continue to put Mississauga first."
McCallion walked away with 76 per cent of the vote; she also saw one of her chief foes on city council defeated.
While such a margin of victory would be a dream result for most politicians, McCallion actually saw her support dip in this year's contest. Historically, she has garnered upwards of 90 per cent of the vote.
It's believed that the inquiry, which probed McCallion's alleged involvement in an ill-fated land deal between the city and her son, was to blame for the blip in her support.
During the inquiry, many previously unknown details about McCallion's leadership style were brought under public scrutiny.
"I think that the print media have been slashing me for eight months, but the people of Mississauga certainly responded very positively," she said.
Moments after her victory on Monday night, she singled out the Toronto Star and the Mississauga News for attacking her, adding that "the public doesn't know all the details."
Though McCallion's victory was never in doubt in the run-up to the election, the race for the council seat in the city's sixth ward was perhaps a juicier political story, given that the incumbent had been a major McCallion adversary.
In fact, as ward six councillor, Carolyn Parrish was instrumental in calling for the inquiry into the McCallion land controversy. Parrish had also taken public swipes at McCallion, calling her "rude" in 2009.
When Parrish, a former Liberal MP who gained fame for calling Americans "bastards" a few years ago, was defeated on Monday night, McCallion reportedly jumped for joy.
McCallion later told reporters that she doesn't wish ill on anybody, and on Tuesday, she thanked her staff and supporters.
"I'm just delighted with the response of my people," she said, noting that "you can't do it alone."
McCallion said that her success in Ontario's third-largest city over four decades is the result of straightforward policies and the desire to run the city like a business.
"We've converted it from a bedroom community to a self-sustaining city in which we import more people now than what goes out in the morning. And we've built a fantastic place for people to raise their family."
