Brad Bradford announces intention to run for Toronto mayor more than a year ahead of election

Brad Bradford, the councillor for Beaches-East York, says he will run to become the mayor of Toronto in the municipal election.

He made the announcement on Wednesday—more than a year away from the October 2026 election.

Bradford is the first notable person to declare his intention to run for mayor.

This is the second time Bradford will run for the city’s top job. He finished eighth in the June 2023 mayoral byelection, which was won by Mayor Olivia Chow.

She has not formally announced if she is seeking re-election. When asked about her plans, Chow has said she is focused on running the city and not a campaign.

“Fixing Toronto, building more housing, keeping people safe, and I’m busy doing that,” Chow said last month.

A Forum Research poll released last month found that if it’s a long ballot, Chow would receive the most support from voters even with former mayor John Tory in the race.

However, Chow would be in danger if it’s a two-way contest against either Tory or Bradford, the poll found.

“Look at Chow versus Brad Bradford. Big surprise here. He actually beats her by two points. Now, statistically, it’s a tie. So, within the margin of error. But that’s pretty impressive,” Forum Research President Lorne Bozinoff told CP24 Breakfast last month.

New polling suggests Toronto mayoral race could be ‘a repeat’ of previous election Lorne Bozinoff, president of Forum Research Inc., tells CP24 that early polling suggests similar voting patterns as Toronto’s previous mayoral election.

Tory, who resigned as mayor in Feb. 2023 after admitting to an affair with a member of his staff, has said he’s mulling a possible run but he’s in no rush to make a decision.

“I’m thinking about it because I do run into lots of people on the street who encouraged me to come back into politics, but I’ve got my hands full trying to build the city in other ways,” Tory said last month.

A Liaison Strategies poll in July found that Bradford would be one of Mayor Olivia Chow’s closest competitors if former mayor John Tory does not put his name on the ballot.

If Tory were to run against Chow, Liaison Strategies found that it would essentially become a two-horse race with no other candidate garnering the support of more than seven per cent of decided voters.

With files from Chris Fox