An hour after most polls closed in the Toronto mayoral election, results had yet to be released, after a hard-fought campaign and several polls in recent weeks that showed only a thin margin separating incumbent Olivia Chow from leading challenger Brad Bradford.
asserted
that → close → Bradford
The City of Toronto said the results were delayed because of long lines at some polling stations, and that they would start to be made available at approximately 9 p.m.
Tense Chow supporters packed into the downtown Great Hall to watch results come in.
asserted
results → say → Hall
Cheers erupted as some polls from Mississauga showed up on television screens.
asserted
polls → erupt → screens
But Toronto numbers still hadn’t appeared 45 minutes after polls closed, leaving the mayor’s supporters uneasy.
asserted
polls → appear → supporters
“I’m feeling nervous, nervous as hell,” said filmmaker Sarah Polley, who canvassed in support of Ms. Chow during the campaign.
asserted
who → feel → campaign
Campaign organizers said they were confident the outcome would turn in their favour, citing several polls in recent days showing Ms. Chow in the lead.
asserted
outcome → say → lead
Mr. Bradford’s supporters filled a conference room at the Fairmont Royal York hotel in downtown Toronto, including high-profile guests such as Mark Mulroney, son of late former prime minister Brian Mulroney.
asserted
supporters → fill → Mulroney
White and green balloons framed a “Brad Bradford for Mayor” sign with a podium that read “Thank you Toronto.”
asserted
that → frame → you
Guests mingled and talked as they awaited results while television screens streamed other races.
asserted
screens → mingle → races
With the results still to come in, Mr. Bradford’s campaign was feeling optimistic and motivated, said Laryssa Waler, Mr. Bradford’s communications director.
asserted
Waler → come → ?
But she added, “We’re not naïve about the battle we have to climb.
asserted
we → add → battle
No incumbent has ever lost in the megacity,” she said.
asserted
she → lose → megacity
“We’re aware of how hard it is to bring change, but our voters are lining up at the voting booth.
asserted
voters → ’re → booth
Our voters showed up for advance polls.”
The campaign was a study in political contrasts.
asserted
campaign → show → contrasts
Ms. Chow, the 69-year-old incumbent, has been a progressive political fixture in the city since 1985, when she was first elected as a Toronto school board trustee.
asserted
she → elect → trustee
Despite a political resume that includes stints as a councillor and MP, she came across as reserved in public appearances, leaning on a reputation for getting things done behind the scenes rather than in front of the cameras.
asserted
things → include → cameras
The 40-year-old Mr. Bradford, by comparison, is a relative newcomer, a truculent political showman first elected to council in 2018.
asserted
Bradford → elect → 2018
He ran in the 2023 mayoral by-election, prompted by then-mayor John Tory’s resignation over an affair with a staffer, and finished in eighth place with just 1.28 per cent of the vote.
asserted
He → run → vote
But Mr. Bradford emerged undaunted about his future political prospects.
asserted
Bradford → emerge → prospects
“That humiliation would have been enough to discourage just about anyone from ever running again,” said journalist and former city councillor John Filion.
asserted
Filion → discourage → anyone
“But he’s an incredibly driven and determined guy, almost more than anyone I’ve ever met.”
asserted
I → ’ → anyone
For the next three years, Mr. Bradford effectively remained in campaign mode.
asserted
Bradford → remain → mode
He tacked right on council, taking positions against certain bike lanes, the renaming of Yonge-Dundas Square to Sankofa Square, the creation of bus lanes and cuts to police funding – all policies he’d earlier supported.
asserted
he → tack → funding
He held campaign-style news events across the city well before the campaign period opened.
asserted
period → hold → city
He declared that city crime had become so bad he slept with a baseball next to his bed.
asserted
he → declare → bed
The preemptive electioneering succeeded on two fronts.
asserted
electioneering → succeed → fronts
His citywide popularity grew in polling and he established himself early as the leading conservative to take on Ms. Chow, deterring other potential right-leaning candidates from entering the race.
asserted
he → grow → race
In March, Mr. Tory, a former leader of the provincial Progressive Conservative party, announced he would not run, clearing Mr. Bradford’s path to court the anti-Chow vote.
asserted
he → announce → vote
His campaign focused on portraying Toronto as a city of high crime, excessive spending, poor transit and congested streets that had become “stuck” under Ms. Chow’s leadership.
asserted
that → focus → leadership
With hate crimes rising, he also allied himself with Toronto’s Jewish community while highlighting Ms. Chow’s absence from a debate on antisemitism.
asserted
he → rise → antisemitism
He pledged to hire 1,000 police officers, commission a line-by-line review of city finances and eliminate the city’s land-transfer tax on home sales under $1.1-million.
asserted
He → pledge → million
Ms. Chow struggled to counter her opponent’s gloomy portrayal of the city, despite a host of indicators in her favour.
asserted
Chow → struggle → favour
Under her watch, the number of homicides, shootings and homeless encampments all declined, while traffic congestion and homelessness rates improved.
asserted
congestion → decline → homicides
In office, she patched up an inherited $1.8-billion budget hole with two large property-tax hikes and a “new deal” with Premier Doug Ford, which included $1.2-billion in operating cash over three years and the transfer of the expensive-to-maintain Gardiner Expressway and Don Valley Parkway to the province.
asserted
which → patch → province
The moves were among the reasons the city won a credit-rating upgrade to AA-plus from S&P Global Ratings.
asserted
city → win → Ratings
Ms. Chow’s campaign focused on reducing fares for frequent TTC riders and providing free school lunches, while maintaining future property-tax hikes “in and around” the rate of inflation.
asserted
campaign → focus → inflation
In appearance after appearance, Mr. Bradford asserted that the intuition of Torontonians trumped any statistical improvements.
asserted
intuition → assert → improvements
If residents feel unsafe and over-taxed, it must be true, he reasoned.
asserted
he → feel → ?
Much of the final days of campaigning centred around a core city function that generally flies under the political radar: water.
asserted
that → centre → radar
A municipal department that reports to city council and bills residents independently of city taxes, Toronto Water maintains a self-sustaining capital program that pays for projects through user fees rather than debt.
asserted
that → report → debt
…and 8 more, not listed.
The Aporia
