The City of Toronto has reelected John Tory as mayor by a comfortable margin, handing the incumbent 63.5 percent of the vote for his second term in office. Tory ran on a platform of lowering crime and property taxes.
Tory’s closest rival was Jennifer Keesmaat, the city’s former chief planner, who received 23.6 percent of the vote. Her vaguely left-leaning platform and last-minute candidacy – she entered the race on the last day of registration – failed to provide a distinct alternative to Tory.
Tory was first elected mayor in 2014, edging out Doug Ford, who became Premier this summer. Ford had followed in the political footsteps of his brother, Rob Ford, who became notorious even beyond Canada’s borders for his crack habit and Trump-esque bluntness.
Premier Ford took the unusual step of cutting the number of city council seats from 47 to 25 in the midst of the race, leaving 242 candidates to fight for their slice of the shrunken electoral pie.
Finishing third with 3.4 percent of the vote was Faith Goldy, a political outsider who was excluded from debates under suspicious circumstances.