On 21 October 2015, businesswoman and Townsville Fire chairwoman Jayne Arlett announced she would run for mayor.[2] In December 2015, she announced she would run a team of candidates in all wards, which included incumbent Townsville First councillors Ray Gartrell, Sue Blom, Gary Eddiehausen, Trevor Roberts and Tony Parsons.[3]
Team Hill ran candidates in all wards, including their two incumbent councillors − Colleen Doyle (Division 9) and Les Walker (Division 10).
First-term independent councillor Pat Ernst announced in November 2015 that he would not seek re-election in Division 5.[4]