Brad Bradford, the councillor for Beaches-East York, says he will run to become the mayor of Toronto in the municipal election.<\/p>\n
He made the announcement on Wednesday\u2014more than a year away from the October 2026 election.<\/p>\n
Bradford is the first notable person to declare his intention to run for mayor.<\/p>\n
This is the second time Bradford will run for the city\u2019s top job. He finished eighth in the June 2023 mayoral byelection, which was won by Mayor Olivia Chow.<\/p>\n
She has not formally announced if she is seeking re-election. When asked about her plans, Chow has said she is focused on running the city and not a campaign.<\/p>\n
\u201cFixing Toronto, building more housing, keeping people safe, and I\u2019m busy doing that,\u201d Chow said last month.<\/p>\n
A Forum Research poll released last month found that if it\u2019s a long ballot, Chow would receive the most support from voters even with former mayor John Tory in the race.<\/p>\n
However, Chow would be in danger if it\u2019s a two-way contest against either Tory or Bradford, the poll found.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook at Chow versus Brad Bradford. Big surprise here. He actually beats her by two points. Now, statistically, it\u2019s a tie. So, within the margin of error. But that\u2019s pretty impressive,\u201d Forum Research President Lorne Bozinoff told CP24 Breakfast last month.<\/p>\n
New polling suggests Toronto mayoral race could be \u2018a repeat\u2019 of previous election Lorne Bozinoff, president of Forum Research Inc., tells CP24 that early polling suggests similar voting patterns as Toronto\u2019s previous mayoral election. <\/p>\n
Tory, who resigned as mayor in Feb. 2023 after admitting to an affair with a member of his staff, has said he\u2019s mulling a possible run but he\u2019s in no rush to make a decision.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m thinking about it because I do run into lots of people on the street who encouraged me to come back into politics, but I\u2019ve got my hands full trying to build the city in other ways,\u201d Tory said last month.<\/p>\n