Incumbent mayor Allan Lamport won an unexpectedly close race against school board chairman Arthur J.

[2] Lamport had been elected mayor in 1951, and was expected to face no major opposition to his reelection after powerful Controller Leslie Saunders opted not to run.

A central issue of the campaign was the introduction of rent control, which Lamport opposed and Brown favoured.

Labour representative Ford Brand also campaigned on rent control, and increased his vote to almost win second place.

The unexpected death of Louis Shannon led to a second board appointment, this time of Alderman Roy E. Belyea.

Council accepted his resignation by a vote of 19-2 and then unanimously elected Controller Leslie Howard Saunders as Mayor.