2018 Toronto mayoral election

The 2018 Toronto mayoral election was held on Monday, October 22, 2018, to elect the Mayor of the city of Toronto. Incumbent Mayor John Tory was re-elected for a second term, defeating former Chief City Planner Jennifer Keesmaat with 63.49% of the vote.[1][2] Tory won all of Toronto’s 25 wards.[3]

2018 Toronto mayoral election

← 2014October 22, 20182022 →
Turnout40.9% (Decrease 13.8 pp)
 
Mayor John Tory in Toronto at the Good Friday Procession - 2018 (27264606888) (cropped).jpg
Jennifer Keesmaat (cropped).jpg
CandidateJohn ToryJennifer Keesmaat
Popular vote479,659178,193
Percentage63.5%23.6%


Mayor of Toronto before election

John Tory

Elected Mayor of Toronto

John Tory

Registration for candidates for the office of Mayor officially opened on May 1, 2018, and closed on July 27, 2018, at 2 pm.[4] Incumbent John Tory has been Mayor of Toronto since being elected in 2014 and launched his bid for re-election on May 1, 2018.[5] Former city councillor Doug Ford declared his intent to run, but later withdrew to seek the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario. Former Chief City Planner Jennifer Keesmaat was speculated to be considering entering the race, and after initially indicating she would not run, she announced her candidacy on July 27, 2018, the last day to register as a candidate.[6]

Candidates

Official registration for mayoral candidates opened May 1, 2018, and closed on July 27.[7] At the close of nominations, 35 candidates have registered to run in the election.[8]

Registered major candidates

All candidates

Formerly declared candidates

  • Doug Ford, former city councillor and runner-up in the 2014 mayoral election, announced his intention to challenge for the office a second time at a September 2017 event.[12] However, he announced in January 2018 that he would seek the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario and would not run in the mayoral election.[13]
  • Blayne Lastman, son of former mayor Mel Lastman, declared on July 25 that he would enter the race,[14] but announced a day later that he would not run.[15]

Declined candidates

Debates

List of Debates
DateHosted byParticipantsModeratorRef
September 24, 2018ArtsVote TorontoTory, Keesmaat, Gebresellassi, Climenhaga, Nath[24]
September 26, 2018University of Toronto ScarboroughKeesmaat, Gebresellassi, Climenhaga[25]

Opinion polls

Polling firmLast date of pollingLinkKeesmaatToryOther
DART Insight and CommunicationsOctober 12–15, 2018PDF2762
Forum ResearchOctober 10, 2018PDF295615
Forum ResearchOctober 5, 2018PDF295615
Mainstreet ResearchSeptember 25, 2018HTML3164 Faith Goldy 2%
Sarah Climenhaga 1%
Saron Gebressellassi 1%
Other 1%
Forum ResearchSeptember 24, 2018PDF[permanent dead link]285616
Mainstreet ResearchSeptember 16, 2018HTML2662 Faith Goldy 6%
Other 6%
Mainstreet ResearchSeptember 5, 2018HTML286310
Probit Inc.September 5, 2018Twitter3164 Faith Goldy 3%
Other 2%
Forum ResearchAugust 27, 2018PDF3565
Forum ResearchJuly 27, 2018PDF3070

Endorsements

KeesmaatTory
City councillorsKristyn Wong-Tam
Mike Layton
Joe Cressy
Gord Perks
Joe Mihevc
[26]
[27]
[28]
[29]
[30]
Denzil Minnan-Wong
Jon Burnside
Christin Carmichael Greb
Frances Nunziata
[30]
Federal politiciansShaun Chen (Liberal, Scarborough North)
Ali Ehsassi (Liberal, Willowdale)
Michael Levitt (Liberal, York Centre)
James Maloney (Liberal, Etobicoke-Lakeshore)
John McKay (Liberal, Scarborough-Guildwood)
Marco Mendicino (Liberal, Eglinton-Lawrence)
Rob Oliphant (Liberal, Don Valley West)
Yasmin Ratansi (Liberal, Don Valley East)
Judy Sgro (Liberal, Humber River-Black Creek)
Geng Tan (Liberal, Don Valley North)
Borys Wrzesnewskyj (Liberal, Etobicoke Centre)
Jean Yip (Liberal, Scarborough-Agincourt)
[31]
[31]
[32]
[33]
[31]
[34]
[31]
[35]
[36]
[31]
[31]
[31]
Provincial politiciansJessica Bell (NDP, University-Rosedale)
Suze Morrison (NDP, Toronto Centre)
Marit Stiles (NDP, Davenport)
Doly Begum (NDP, Scarborough Southwest)
[37]
[37]
[37]
[37]
Mitzie Hunter (Liberal, Scarborough-Guildwood)[38]
Former politiciansOlivia Chow (NDP MP)[39]Jean Augustine (Liberal MP)
John Baird (Conservative MP & MPP)
John Carmichael (Conservative MP)
Alvin Curling (Liberal MPP)
C.S. Leung (Conservative MP)
Peter MacKay (Conservative MP)
Joe Oliver (Conservative MP)
Sandra Pupatello (Liberal MPP)
[31]
[40]
[41]
[31]
[31]
[42]
[43]
[31]
MediaDaily Xtra
Spacing Magazine
[44]
[45]
Toronto Sun

Toronto Star

[46][47]
OtherRichard Peddie (Former President and CEO MLSE)
Richard Underhill (Juno Award winning musician)
Toronto & York Region Labour Council
Elementary Teachers of Toronto

Guillermo "Gil" Penalosa (World Urban Parks Ambassador)

Tabatha Southey

Vision Zero Canada

Jean Yoon

Bruce Arthur (Toronto Star Sports Columnist)

Charles Spearin (Broken Social Scene)

Edward Keenan (Toronto Star Columnist)

Heather Mallick (Toronto Star Columnist)

[48]
[49]
[50]
[51]

[52]

[53]

[54]

[55]

[56]

[57]

[58]

[59]

Director X

Claire Emma Kirk

Peter MacKay

Jeanne Beker

Gary Slaight

Gordon Nixon

Sheetal Jaitly

[60]

[61]

[30]

[62]

[63]

[64]

[65]

Results

Official results from the City of Toronto.[2]

CandidateNumber of votes% of popular vote
John Tory (X)479,65963.49
Jennifer Keesmaat178,19323.59
Faith Goldy25,6673.40
Saron Gebresellassi15,2222.01
Steven Lam5,9200.78
Sarah Climenhaga4,7650.63
Kevin Clarke3,8530.51
Monowar Hossain3,6020.48
Logan Choy3,5180.47
Knia Singh3,2440.43
Dobrosav Basaric2,8820.38
Chris Brosky2,7820.37
Jim McMillan2,4220.32
Tofazzel Haque2,3070.31
Drew Buckingham1,9710.26
Mike Gallay1,9400.26
Daryl Christoff1,7510.23
Gautam Nath1,4740.20
Christopher Humphrey1,4280.19
Thomas O'Neill1,3250.18
D!ONNE Renée1,2800.17
Brian Buffey1,2750.17
Brian Graff1,1390.15
Michael Nicula1,0480.14
Andrzej Kardys1,0350.14
Joseph Pampena7730.10
Jakob Vardy7570.10
Kris Langenfeld6950.09
James Sears6800.09
Chai Kalevar6150.08
Jack Weenen6070.08
Ion Gelu Vintila5650.07
Joseph Osuji4860.06
Josh Rachlis3370.04
Jim Ruel2760.04
Invalid/blank votes
Total
Registered voters/turnout

Maps

References