Hamilton's municipal election is still a year and a half away, and Mayor Fred Eisenberger says he'll run again.

Eisenberger says he wants to see projects like light rail transit (LRT) and Hamilton's new waterfront development come to fruition.

He's not in campaign mode, he said. "I've never focused on elections." But when someone asked him the question on stage at the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce breakfast Wednesday, he answered it.

This term has tested Eisenberger's ability to build consensus as he tries to save LRT, a $1 billion project that is the banner issue of his term.

When he was mayor from 2006 to 2010, some councillors criticized his inability to build consensus. That didn't seem the case last week, when council cast a surprise 10-5 vote to proceed with the project.

If elected, it would be Eisenberger's third term as mayor, but his first time being elected twice in a row.

He was mayor from 2006 to 2010, then lost to now-MP Bob Bratina. He became mayor again in 2014.

Previously, he served as a Ward 5 alderman and regional councillor from 1991 to 2000. He ran for mayor in 2000 and lost to Bob Wade, then spent six years out of politics. Eisenberger also ran federally for the Conservatives in Hamilton East-Stoney Creek in 2004, although he told CBC in 2014 that he no longer identifies as a Conservative.

Most of his time away from politics has been spent doing consulting work around water and wastewater, the environment and urban issues.

The period to file nomination papers for the 2018 municipal election will be from May 1 to July 27 of next year.

Eisenberger's term — in photos

Fred Eisenberger celebrates his 2014 mayoral win with his wife, Diane. His previous term, he said, taught him to be better at building consensus among councillors, and he pledged to do that again. His most recent challenge has been to get councillors on board for the LRT project, which appeared to happen last week when 10 council members, including him, voted to move forward. (John Rieti/CBC)

"I'm going to tweet this," Eisenberger says as he takes photos of the council chambers during his first meeting in 2014. Eisenberger has been active on social media, and has spent much of his Twitter time promoting Hamilton's LRT project. (Samantha Craggs/CBC)

Eisenberger wears a Stampeders jersey in Hamilton city hall council chambers in 2014 after losing a Grey Cup-related bet with Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi. (Samantha Craggs/CBC)

Eisenberger lights a candle alongside members of the city's Pakistani community in 2014 to remember victims of the Peshawar school attack. (John Rieti/CBC)

Eisenberger compares Hamilton's LRT project to the Big Dig, a massive Boston transit and highway project, during a breakfast speech last June. Much of Eisenberger's term has been spent defending the LRT project and trying to move it forward. (Samantha Craggs/CBC)

Eisenberger takes photos with residents in 2015 during the first annual New Year's Levée of his mayoral term. (Kelly Bennett/CBC)

Eisenberger and city manager Chris Murray met with Premier Kathleen Wynne to ask for the full capital cost of building LRT. The previous council voted to ask the province for money. (Twitter @Kathleen_Wynne)

Eisenberger cuts the ribbon at the 2015 grand opening of the new Tim Hortons museum on Ottawa Street. (Danni Gresko/CBC)

Eisenberger kicked around a soccer ball with kids at the opening of the Pan Am Games stadium. The stadium location was a weight on his 2006-2010 mayoral term, when he wanted it to be built at the waterfront. The city bought up property there, but the stadium remained in the central lower city instead. (Kelly Bennett/CBC)

Mayor Fred Eisenberger handed an oversized key to the stadium to Allen Vansen, from the Pan Am Games. The stadium is now known as Tim Hortons Field stadium. (Kelly Bennett)

Premier Kathleen Wynne shakes hands with Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca, MPP Ted McMeekin and Eisenberger at the $1-billion LRT announcement in Hamilton in 2015. Eisenberger campaigned on striking a citizens panel to decide if LRT was the best fit. The mayor says the provincial announcement changed the panel's role, and instead it made the recommendation to educate people about LRT. (Samantha Craggs/CBC)

Eisenberger, left, joined veterans on the viewing platform by Jackson Square during a Remembrance Day parade in 2015. (Samantha Craggs/CBC)

Eisenberger speaks at a December 2015 announcement of a new flour mill on Pier 10. (Kelly Bennett/CBC)

Eisenberger was on hand for a 2016 announcement of an IBM and Hamilton Health Sciences partnership that saw some health sciences staff move into the former Stelco Tower. From left are Bill Charnetski, Ontario's chief health innovation strategist; Eisenberger; Dino Trevisani, president of IBM Canada, and Rob MacIsaac, president CEO of Hamilton Health Sciences. (Samantha Craggs/CBC)

Eisenberger signed a 2016 agreement to merge Horizon Utilities with two other utilities to form Alectra, the second largest electricity distribution company in Ontario. Eisenberger attracted criticism when the public learned he'd get about $35,000 for his role on the Alectra board. (Samantha Craggs/CBC)

Eisenberger joined David Braley and MPP Indira Naidoo-Harris for the opening of McMaster University's new David Braley health campus. (Tucker Wilson/CBC)

Eisenberger helped raise the LGBTQ pride and transgender pride flags last year. Eisenberger promised an "equity and inclusion lens" when he ran for office in 2014, which he says is still in the works. Under Eisenberger's watch, the city settled a human rights complaint filed by a transgender woman a security guard stopped from using the women's washroom at the Macnab bus terminal. As part of that ruling, the city has established a transgender and gender non-conforming protocol. (Samantha Craggs/CBC)

Eisenberger says he and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau talked about infrastructure and U.S. Steel pensioners during a 2016 meeting. U.S. Steel pensioners are still without health benefits after U.S. Steel Canada went into bankruptcy protection. (Adam Carter/CBC)

Eisenberger serves on the police services board, as does every Hamilton mayor and two council appointees. (Kelly Bennett/CBC)