According to a new poll, Toronto voters would choose Olivia Chow over John Tory
Now we just need to know if either of them actually plans to run for mayor
The results of a new poll suggest that Mayor Olivia Chow has the advantage over former mayor John Tory ahead of October’s municipal election. Among decided and leaning voters, Chow leads Tory by nine points, with 43 per cent compared to Tory’s to 34 per cent.
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Quito Maggi, the president and CEO of Mainstreet Research, said in a statement accompanying the results that Chow’s lead “could change if John Tory in fact joins the race and creates a two-horse race between himself and Chow.”
Tory is expected to announce a mayoral run, after resigning from the position in 2023. Mayor Chow has not yet disclosed whether she will seek re-election.
The poll asked respondents whether they prefer the city’s direction under Chow or Tory. Fifty-four per cent chose Tory.
“This includes overwhelming majorities among those who say they would vote for Brad Bradford and Anthony Furey, and among those who say they are undecided,” the results explained. “With Bradford and Furey supporters overwhelmingly in favour of the direction under Tory, it would be hard for Chow to maintain the advantage.”
Bradford publicly stated his intention to run last October.
Though often asked by reporters whether she’ll run again, Chow hasn’t offered much of a hint. “I haven’t wrapped my head around it yet,” she told Now Toronto in December. “We have so much work to do.”
Related: John Tory may run for mayor again. The question on everyone’s minds: Why?
Carly Lewis is a journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times and the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Wired, Interview Magazine, Pitchfork, Elle, and Maclean’s, where she is a contributing editor. Her work has been recognized by the National Magazine Awards and the Digital Publishing Awards. She reports on city life, culture—including what people do online—politics, art and crime. She received the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Award for “The Murder of Ashley Wadsworth,” an investigative feature about a Canadian teenager who was killed by a man she met on social media, published by Maclean’s.
