[Northern Light]

John Tory finally backs a candidate in Toronto mayoral election

Tory revealed Wednesday he endorses Ana Bailão in Monday’s byelection, while Doug Ford warned an Olivia Chow victory would be ‘unmitigated disaster’ for the city.

www.thestar.com

John Tory has named his preferred candidate in the election to succeed him, despite previously declaring he would stay out of the race.

The former Toronto mayor confirmed to the Star on Wednesday that he will endorse Ana Bailão in Monday’s byelection. Bailão, a former councillor for Davenport, served as one of his deputy mayors.

Her campaign is expected to issue a formal statement Wednesday afternoon.

What bothers me here is not his choosing to endorse someone, its that he publicly stated he would not, and now has.

Same pattern Deputy Mayor McKelvie followed.

 

[christiesplits]

What bothers me here is not his choosing to endorse someone, its that he publicly stated he would not, and now has.

Same pattern Deputy Mayor McKelvie followed.

Tory also said he would only run two terms.

I’m not sure what impact the endorsement will have on Bailao’s support.

On the one hand, people have largely tuned out of the election, and might only be making their decision now. On the other hand, weather is getting nicer and families are preparing for the holidays, so the late endorsement might not make much of a difference.

 

[DSC]

What bothers me here is not his choosing to endorse someone, its that he publicly stated he would not, and now has.

Same pattern Deputy Mayor McKelvie followed.

.... and Mr Ford himself. I put it down to fact they are scared Chow will (easily) win.

 

[EddyMCD]

This is pretty late in the game for a Tory endorsement, I wonder how much it will pump Bailao's numbers.

 

[John_Dee]

If Chow does win, and Dofo rescinds the "strong mayor" powers he was previously so hot-to-trot for - or tries to, at least - there's no way the optics for that are going to be anything but terrible. I could see him doing it. He's that petty.

And speaking of Ford (and Tory), I wonder if there's anything to the speculation some of us were engaging in that the real reason Tory resigned was that Thug learned of Tory's affair and tried to blackmail him. If there is something to that, does Tory have any reason to remain quiet about it? Apart from the obvious, natch, i.e. Ford's legendary vindictiveness towards perceived enemies and his almost certain-to-follow efforts at revenge against Tory for not keeping his mouth shut.

 

[smably]

I'm no fan of Bailao, but I'm going to count these late endorsements as good news. They are too late to affect Chow's chances of winning, but they could help bleed support from Saunders and hopefully eliminate him as a contender in 2026. A third or fourth place finish might be enough to embarrass him out of politics forever. I can dream.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

John Tory finally backs a candidate in Toronto mayoral election

Tory revealed Wednesday he endorses Ana Bailão in Monday’s byelection, while Doug Ford warned an Olivia Chow victory would be ‘unmitigated disaster’ for the city.

www.thestar.com

John Tory has named his preferred candidate in the election to succeed him, despite previously declaring he would stay out of the race.

The former Toronto mayor confirmed to the Star on Wednesday that he will endorse Ana Bailão in Monday’s byelection. Bailão, a former councillor for Davenport, served as one of his deputy mayors.

Her campaign is expected to issue a formal statement Wednesday afternoon.

Excellent, she can own his failures then.

AoD

 

[Pacer]

With continued support from Ford as well in the media, we have a split vote for the stop chow camp(s).

 

[picard102]

Ana is the status quo. That is not acceptable.

We just had an election a few months ago that found the status quo to be more than acceptable.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

We just had an election a few months ago that found the status quo to be more than acceptable.

Until the status quo decided that he was anything but that.

AoD

 

[picard102]

If Chow does win, and Dofo rescinds the "strong mayor" powers he was previously so hot-to-trot for - or tries to, at least - there's no way the optics for that are going to be anything but terrible. I could see him doing it. He's that petty.

He doesn't need to rescind them. Most of the powers require the use to align with provincial priorities.

 

[picard102]

Until the status quo decided that he was anything but that.

AoD

Polls showed he'd easily win if he ran again.

 

[JGHali]

Polls showed he'd easily win if he ran again.

So? He resigned. A poll testing a hypothetical doesn’t tell you much except that Tory was familiar and the incumbent. His last minute endorsement once again demonstrates that his whole “integrity” schtick was just performative.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Polls showed he'd easily win if he ran again.

Maybe he should then!

AoD

 

[picard102]

So? He resigned.

So saying he would win again means that the idea of the status quo being unacceptable is false.

I somehow doubt you'd be talking about his integrity if he endorsed Chow.