Theresa Kavanagh

Theresa Kavanagh
Ottawa City Councillor
Incumbent
Assumed office December 1, 2018
Preceded by	Mark Taylor
Constituency	Bay Ward
Deputy Mayor of Ottawa
Incumbent
Assumed office 2023 Serving with Glen Gower, Clarke Kelly
Ottawa-Carleton District School Board Trustee
In office December 1, 2010 – December 1, 2018
Preceded by	Doug Lloyd
Succeeded by	Wendy Hough
Constituency	Zone 4
Personal details
Born	(1957-10-10) October 10, 1957
Political party	New Democratic Party
Spouse	Alex Cullen
Children	2
Residence	Britannia Bay
Alma mater	University of Guelph

Theresa Kavanagh (born October 10, 1957) is a Canadian politician. She was elected to Ottawa City Council representing Bay Ward in the 2018 Ottawa municipal election.

Kavanagh is the daughter of immigrants, having an Irish father and British mother. Her father was a steelworker at Stelco. She grew up in Hamilton, Ontario. She received a fine arts degree at the University of Guelph. In her youth, she joined Canada World Youth.

Kavanagh worked for a number of New Democratic Party Members of Parliament and worked for 21 years in the party's whip's office.

Kavanagh's first venture into electoral politics was a run for the New Democratic Party in the 1988 Canadian federal election in the riding of Ottawa West. She finished third, behind Liberal Marlene Catterall and the incumbent, David Daubney of the Progressive Conservatives.

Kavanagh was easily elected as a trustee, representing Zone 4 (Bay Ward) to the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board in the 2010 Ottawa municipal election and was easily re-elected in 2014. When Bay Ward incumbent councillor Mark Taylor retired in 2018, Kavanagh entered the race to replace him. On election day, Kavanagh won 55% of the vote, easily beating Don Dransfield, the husband of the incumbent Liberal MP, Anita Vandenbeld.

Kavanagh is married to Alex Cullen, who represented Bay Ward for many years on city and regional council and was also a Liberal-turned-NDP Member of Provincial Parliament from 1997 to 1999.

Electoral record

2022 Ottawa municipal election: Bay Ward

Candidate		Popular vote			Expenditures
		Votes	%	±%
	Theresa Kavanagh (X)	12,398	82.79	+27.62	$27,256.02
	Robert Hill	1,659	11.08	–	$497.36
	Othman Alhusain	919	6.14	–	$250.00
Total valid votes		14,976	96.45
Total rejected, unmarked and declined votes		551	3.55
Turnout		15,527	43.77	+2.14
Eligible voters		35,473
Note: Candidate campaign colours are based on the prominent colour used in campaign items (signs, literature, etc.) and are used as a visual differentiation between candidates.
Sources:

2018 Ottawa Municipal Election: Bay Ward		Vote	%
	Theresa Kavanagh	6,509	55.17
	Don Dransfield	2,104	17.83
	Erica Dath	1,793	15.20
	Marc Lugert	851	7.21
	Trevor Robinson	541	4.59

2014 Ottawa-Carleton District School Board Trustee Election: Zone 4	Vote	%
Theresa Kavanagh (X)	6,906	81.16
Calvin Palen	1,603	18.84

2010 Ottawa-Carleton District School Board Trustee Election: Zone 4	Vote	%
Theresa Kavanagh	6,654	68.57
Doug Lloyd (X)	2,506	25.82
Michael Pastien	544	5.61

1988 Canadian federal election: Ottawa West—Nepean
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Marlene Catterall	23,470	49.56
	Progressive Conservative	David Daubney	18,299	38.64
	New Democratic	Theresa Kavanagh	5,300	11.19
	Communist	Peter Cavers	156	0.33
	Independent	Donna Petersen	130	0.27
Total valid votes			47,355