Olivia Chow wins second term as Toronto mayor

Olivia Chow won a second term as mayor of Toronto on Monday night, defeating former city councillor Brad Bradford in the Oct. 26 municipal election, according to projections from CP24 and reporting by NOW Toronto.

The CP24-CTV Election Desk projected Chow the winner at 9:59 p.m. ET. With 98.2 per cent of polls reporting, Chow had 54.1 per cent of the vote and Bradford had 41.1 per cent, a margin of about 125,564 votes, CP24 reported. Final results have not been certified by the city.

The result is clearer than many pre-election polls suggested. Some surveys in the final days of the campaign showed Bradford with a narrow lead, NOW Toronto reported. Our own earlier coverage had described the two as in a statistical tie a week before the vote.

Chow, a former New Democrat MP and city councillor, first won the mayor’s chair in the 2023 by-election. CP24 reported that she is the first Toronto mayor since amalgamation to avoid defeat at the ballot box in a first bid for re-election, and that she now gets her first full term.

She ran on affordability, including a freeze on TTC fares and an expansion of the school nutrition program to include lunch, CP24 reported. She also promised to keep property tax increases near the rate of inflation. Asked about her first priority, she said she would immediately bring council together and talk with councillors to map out a plan, according to CP24.

Bradford, who represented Beaches-East York on council, made the cost of living and the city’s direction central to his challenge. He said Chow’s property tax increases totalled 18.6 per cent over her three years in office and accused her of breaking a 2023 promise of a modest tax increase. “We are stuck in traffic, we are stuck feeling less safe and we are stuck paying more and getting less,” Bradford said, according to CP24. The two clashed over taxes and water in the final Toronto debate.

More than 50 candidates registered for the mayoral race, NOW Toronto reported, including former MP Chris Alexander, who withdrew shortly before advance voting began. The City of Toronto said more than 222,000 people cast advance ballots between Oct. 6 and Oct. 11. A total turnout figure was not yet available.

Elsewhere in the Greater Toronto Area, CP24 and BNN Bloomberg reported that Alvin Tedjo was elected mayor of Mississauga and that Patrick Brown was re-elected in Brampton. Details on those races were not immediately available.

Polls closed at 8 p.m. ET across Ontario. Readers who want the full breakdown can check the City of Toronto’s official results page, which is expected to be updated as the count is finalized. Our guide to voting in Toronto’s Oct. 26 election and our earlier look at the two-way race between Chow and Bradford have background on how the campaign unfolded.

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Sources: CP24 (Chris Fox), NOW Toronto, BNN Bloomberg.