The mayor’s office will be one to watch, with Brad Bradford — friend of real estate developers and corporate leaders —in the running again. Bradford, who is giving up his east end city council seat to run, got only 1.3 per cent of the mayoral vote in 2023, but was polling at 37 per cent among decided voters in early May. Bradford is so far the only high profile candidate on the right wing. Current mayor Olivia Chow, who was backed by labour leaders and progressive groups in the last election, didn’t register early but is expected to run again. She is currently polling at 50 per cent support among decided voters.
In York South—Weston, tenant organizer Chiara Padovani is running a third attempt to unseat Frances Nunziata, who has been on council since 1998 and is one of the closest allies of the Toronto police. Nunziata beat Padovani in the riding by just 94 votes in 2022.
The crowd of candidates is filling up in University—Rosedale, with progressives Diana Yoon and Gabe Blanc trying to unseat Green-affiliated incumbent Dianne Saxe.
Other battlegrounds include Scarborough Southwest (where incumbent Parthi Kandavel is under OPP investigation for allegedly demanding payments from developers), Scarborough Centre (incumbent Michael Thompson), Toronto Centre (incumbent Chris Moise), and Beaches—East York (vacant with Bradford running for mayor).
This article appeared in the 2026 Jun/Jul issue.