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2026 Toronto Mayoral Race

I'll say this, if it's a boring election, I'd like Josh Matlow to run again. He was a rising star with a chance at winning in the last election until Olivia Chow stepped in and took the flag with her higher profile and name recognition. I don't think Matlow would win against Chow in a head to head or three way race but I think it would raise his profile to become the standard bearer in another 4 years.
 
It's worth remembering that, in the post-Tory mayoral byelection, city councillors were allowed to run without having to resign their seats. This is part of why people like Matlow and Bradford (and Anthony Peruzza, for that matter) ran despite having extremely long odds.

This will not be true in the general election. Incumbent councillors will have to choose between a mayoral run and a council run. Which is, perhaps, why Bradford is working so hard to put his name out there today. (He can change his mind about which race to enter right up until the filing deadline, so for the time being, he can have a flutter on the mayoral without risking his council seat. He will eventually have to decide.)

This is also why I expect Matlow will stay out if Chow is running. No upside for him to give up his council seat and lose the mayoral quite badly, especially if he becomes a spoiler for Chow and lets Tory or Bradford win. (And besides: if he wants to win the next mayoral race, he'll almost certainly need the support of the municipal NDP infrastructure, who'll remember what he did to Chow...)
 
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McGillicuddy said:
It's worth remembering that, in the post-Tory mayoral byelection, city councillors were allowed to run without having to resign their seats. This is part of why people like Matlow and Bradford (and Anthony Peruzza, for that matter) ran despite having extremely long odds.

This will not be true in the general election. Incumbent councillors will have to choose between a mayoral run and a council run. Which is, perhaps, why Bradford is working so hard to put his name out there today. (He can change his mind about which race to enter right up until the filing deadline, so for the time being, he can have a flutter on the mayoral without risking his council seat. He will eventually have to decide.)

This is also why I expect Matlow will stay out if Chow is running. No upside for him to give up his council seat and lose the mayoral quite badly, especially if he becomes a spoiler for Chow and lets Tory or Bradford win. (Especially given that, if he wants to win the next mayoral race, he'll almost certainly need the support of the municipal NDP infrastructure, who'll remember what he did to Chow...)
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Ya, agreed. I think he has a good ability to communicate ideas in plain language but unless he really wants to be mayor and has a fallback it’s unlikely. Even he’s been a councillor since 2010, it’s really only since 2023 under Chow that he’s been given “good” committee and board seats and able to help push a progressive agenda at Council.
 
McGillicuddy said:
Which is, perhaps, why Bradford is working so hard to put his name out there today. (He can change his mind about which race to enter right up until the filing deadline, so for the time being, he can have a flutter on the mayoral without risking his council seat. He will eventually have to decide.)
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Brad Brad’s council seat isn’t a given. He’s heavily disliked in The Beaches. He first ran as a bike riding progressive and turned out to be a Toronto Sun / CP24 fear monger whose other attributes are cockiness and an obnoxious attitude.
 
It is true that lots of progressives are mad with Brad Bradford.

Is is also true that Toronto City Councillors enjoy a level of job security normally reserved for Senators, and that those who pander to intellectually lazy, anti-urban homeowners tend to be the most secure of all.
 
Ironically, Bradsquared might have better odds of becoming Mayor than he has of being reelected as Councillor--at least in the event of John Tory opting out and the "anti-socialist-horde" forces galvanizing around him, instead...
 
txlseries4 said:
Ya, agreed. I think he has a good ability to communicate ideas in plain language but unless he really wants to be mayor and has a fallback it’s unlikely. Even he’s been a councillor since 2010, it’s really only since 2023 under Chow that he’s been given “good” committee and board seats and able to help push a progressive agenda at Council.
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Progressive?
 
nightstreak said:
Brad Brad’s council seat isn’t a given. He’s heavily disliked in The Beaches. He first ran as a bike riding progressive and turned out to be a Toronto Sun / CP24 fear monger whose other attributes are cockiness and an obnoxious attitude.
Click to expand...

He's not well liked in East York either.....

He has spent more time in the last 4 years outside the ward than in it; and his constituency service has been abysmal for the last six years or so.

Progressives are mad at him, but bike lane opponents haven't forgiven him.

He's in a lose-lose scenario.

If we can find anyone more consequential than a broomstick to run against him, he's toast in this ward.

It would require a monumentally bad candidate, or such a divided vote that he pulled a 'Pasternak' (winning with 19% of the vote in a 12-way split)
 
Why does the media still think Tory will run next year? He’s past his best before date and unlikely to run given the previous embarrassing scandal with his EA.

It would be interesting to see Chow v Bradford.
 
Northern Light said:
If we can find anyone more consequential than a broomstick to run against him, he's toast in this ward.
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Broomstick you say? I know just the candidate.

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