Two sitting Members of Parliament, a former MP and a former Mayor and Ontario Cabinet Minister join the Harvard professor's endorsement at the campaign's "Harvard at Home" rally and meet and greet.

MILTON, ON, Oct. 14, 2026 /CNW/ -- Professor Marshall Ganz of the Harvard Kennedy School, the organizing architect of Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign and advisor to Zohran Mamdani's New York City mayoral campaign, endorsed Zainab Azim for Mayor of Milton on Saturday, October 3 after speaking to a capacity crowd at the campaign's Harvard at Home rally at Bishop Reding Secondary School.

"When she (Zainab) decided to run for office, I was so pleased because the kind of leadership that we need now desperately is leadership that is fresh, that brings fresh ideas, but with the commitment and the dedication to make them real. That's what she's done." – Harvard Prof. Marshall Ganz, Obama and Mamdani Campaign Advisor

Ganz, author of People, Power, Change and co-author with Azim of the forthcoming book on the Mamdani campaign, Organized: The Case for People-First Politics, delivered a lecture on how everyday people build power to create change in their communities, followed by an audience Q&A and meet and greet.

He was joined by endorsements from across the nation's political leadership: Members of Parliament Salma Zahid and Sima Acan; former Member of Parliament Bryan May; and Kathryn McGarry, former Mayor and former Ontario Cabinet Minister.

"I recognize talent when I see it and that's why I'm here in Milton to support my friend Zainab Azim for Milton's next Mayor." – Kathryn McGarry, former Mayor and former Ontario Cabinet Minister

"Professor Ganz taught me that power is built with people, not over them. For six months, thousands of Miltonians have proven it at their own front doors. These endorsements belong to every volunteer who knocked, called and believed that Milton's possibility can become Milton's reality." – Zainab Azim, Candidate for Mayor of Milton

Azim, a Milton-raised educator, Harvard Teaching Fellow and Milton's 2022 Citizen of the Year, is running on a three-pillar platform: Careers Close to Home, Transit Every 20 and Alive After Five. Election Day is Monday, October 26, and advance voting is underway now through Thursday, October 15. Her detailed profile, full platform and additional endorsements are available at Milton.com.

Municipal elections in Ontario are non-partisan; all endorsements were made in the endorsers' personal capacities. Professor Ganz participates in his personal capacity, and institutional affiliations and titles are provided for identification purposes only.

Authorized by the official agent for the Zainab Azim Campaign

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SOURCE Zainab for Mayor Campaign