Olivia Chow wins Toronto mayor’s race, defeats Brad Bradford - Toronto Star
In today's First Up: Alvin Tedjo’s underdog victory in Mississauga and the Calgary Flames snap the Maple Leafs' win streak.
Mayor Olivia Chow delivers her victory speech to supporters at the Great Hall after winning the municipal election in Toronto.
Good morning. This is the Tuesday, Oct. 27 edition of First Up, the Star’s daily morning digest. Sign up to get it earlier each day, in your inbox.
Despite polls over the weekend projecting a statistical dead heat, Toronto incumbent Mayor Olivia Chow cruised to victory on election day, beating challenger Brad Bradford by 13 points. Chow, who was elected to a truncated three-year-term after John Tory resigned the position in 2023, will now have a full four years to try to see through promises, including expanding school meal programs to cover lunch for every student and 25,000 new units of affordable housing. Star staff were spread across battleground wards Monday night as votes were being counted. More on that and analysis from experts below.
The incumbent mayor rode a hopeful message about the state of the city and won a second term in office Monday night. The veteran progressive fended off a challenge from her biggest council rival, soundly beating Brad Bradford at the conclusion of a six-month race that centred on affordability and public safety. She won, too, in that she re-enters city hall armed with new supporters and a refreshed bench of progressive councillors. Though ally and TTC chair Jamaal Myers lost in Scarborough North, Chow-aligned candidates won most other competitive seats, including in Bradford’s old ward, which was won by a candidate Chow personally endorsed. Ben Spurr has the whole story.
Sara Ehrhardt at her election night party at the Duke on Queen Street East.
Olivia Chow supporters gather for her election results watch party at the Great Hall.
Monday night marked a Toronto election where candidate vibes were a big subject of discussion. Olivia Chow’s relentlessly joyful (and frequently dancing) persona was often said to be out of step with the mood of a city where drug use on streetcars, grinding traffic and sky-high rent featured prominently in people’s days.
At the same time, challenger Brad Bradford’s depiction of a city sliding into chaos was often called out as too oppressively negative — enough that he himself joked about needing to smile more, and he adjusted his message in the closing days of his campaign to stress the city was “stuck” rather than “broken.” On both sides, there was a sense that the vibes were off.
Ultimately, voters decided by a comfortable margin to give Chow four more years to make everyone else as joyful about Toronto life as she is — and tilted the balance of council more in her favour.
Meanwhile, in Mississauga, two longtime city hall fixtures were cast aside as the relatively youthful Alvin Tedjo became the first person of colour to lead that city. In Hamilton, in Milton and in Oakville, there will be new blood in the mayor’s offices.
How are you feeling this morning? Are you excited by the results in Toronto, or in your city? Are you surprised by any of the council results? Are you feeling more hopeful than you were yesterday, or more distressed than ever? Let us know in the comments section here, where City Hall reporters Ben Cohen and Ben Spurr will answer reader questions at noon Tuesday.
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From left, Bugs Bunny, voice actor Eric Bauza and Daffy Duck attend the Entertainment Community Fund gala benefit on April 8, 2024, in New York.
Ahead of this week’s Canada-EU summit in Montreal, Allan Woods wrote about the first time Ottawa tried to pivot away from the U.S. to Europe. Some of you had thoughts:
“Yes, geography will always tie us to the U.S. to a certain extent, but diversifying trade partners is not just a good idea, it is necessary.” — Peter
“For decades, we assumed that our closest ally would also be our most dependable economic partner. Donald Trump has exposed the danger of building a country’s economic future on that assumption.” — Sam
Before you go, let’s zoom out of the GTA for a second and check in on <rifles through notes> the Montreal man on the run from authorities over his pet raccoon, Pepper. Good news: he’s taken Pepper to meet the owner of a refuge and get vaccinated for rabies.
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