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Mark Keast is an iGaming Reporter for OntarioBets.com and has recently covered the iGaming industry in Canada for The Parleh. Mark is a long-time sportswriter and editor, most notably with the Toronto Sun.
Toronto Mayoral Race Odds: Who is running for Mayor of Toronto?
Today we take a break from the normal oddsmaker headlines and Ontario sports betting coverage. Because Toronto has an election for mayor coming up, and never have we seen such a crowded field of candidates.
There are 102 candidates registered for the race, with the deadline to enter passing on May 12. The vote is June 26.
The three-term mayor, John Tory, resigned in February after admitting to an affair with a staffer. Tory had been the former leader of the Conservative Party in Ontario.
There something for everyone here, including the chance to bet on the race with a major Toronto online casinos operator.
Who Is on the Ballot
There are left-leaning candidates, more right leaning, people that are in the middle of the political spectrum and all points in between. There’s even a dog on the ballot (albeit under her owner’s name) and website Toronto.ca has a complete list.
Toronto Elections provided a response regarding the fact that there are no party affiliations on the ballot:
The Municipal Elections Act, 1996 does not set out requirements with respect to political party affiliation for candidates. However, the Act prohibits Federal and Provincial political parties from making contributions to candidates.
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FanDuel Odds on Mayor’s Race
FanDuel Sportsbook Ontario has introduced a 2023 Toronto Mayoral By-Election market as campaigning starts to heat up.
Like many big cities across North America, Toronto has its share of major challenges. Crime, including in the subways and on the streetcars, homelessness and drug use in the parks, housing affordability, bad traffic, non-stop property development in the city’s core – the next mayor will have their work schedule jammed up.
No party affiliations are listed on the ballot for Toronto mayor. But the top candidates have easily traceable history.
Who Are Top Candidates For Toronto Mayor?
Olivia Chow, a past member of the left-leaning New Democratic Party (she served as a member of Parliament from 2006-14), is focusing on childcare, recreation, transportation services and affordability.
She is atop the FanDuel odds board and leads in the polls. Chow also ran in the 2014 election for mayor and lost to Tory. Ontario’s current premier, Doug Ford, leader of the Progressive Conservative Party, also ran in that race – and finished second.
Some other top contenders on the official Toronto mayor candidates list at toronto.ca are:
Councillor Josh Matlow, who in the past ran as an Ontario Liberal Party candidate in 2002, and who wants to freeze the police budget;
Brad Bradford, focusing on subway safety after months of publicized attacks (it’s tougher to peg Bradford on the political spectrum, but he was endorsed by Tory when he won his councillor seat);
Ana Bailao, neither progressive-leaning or a conservative (describes herself as a “centrist”), and a former deputy mayor to Tory;
Former Toronto police chief Mark Saunders, a candidate for the Ontario Progressive Conservative party in the 2022 provincial election.
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Odds To Be Toronto Mayor
Latest Updates in Toronto Mayoral Election
Betting odds on the race are up at FanDuel, one of the top Ontario sportsbook apps.
How would you like to be Saunders, Matlow or Bailao this morning, four days before votes are tallied, with Chow firmly perched in the driver’s seat?
She remains strongly in the lead, according to polls.
What can you do to change voter minds this close to the election? If you are on the conservative side, like Saunders or Anthony Furey, you need to bang the drum louder. They will bring up U.S. examples like San Francisco and Seattle, cities run by liberal administrations that have gotten a lot of negative U.S. media coverage over homelessness and crime.
Liberals and progressives, who look at Toronto under the thumb of conservative mayors for over a decade, will argue that the time has come for more government investment in critical city services and affordable housing.
The latest news has sources indicating that former mayor Tory will endorse Bailao, his former deputy mayor. How much of an impact will that have? Tory won three mayoral elections.
Bailao has the formal support of eight sitting councillors. Chow has five. Chow has said that a “modest” property tax hike is coming if she is elected but wouldn’t get specific.
Shockingly, the Liberal-leaning newspaper Toronto Star endorsed Bailao. Premier Doug Ford endorsed Saunders.
Updated FanDuel odds as of Thursday morning remained unchanged. There are 102 candidates running for mayor. We’ll finally find out for real this Monday.
OntarioBets will stay atop any further developments, as well as information on topics such as Ontario online poker and other iGaming options in the province.
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