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John Tory, Karen Stintz Both To Run For Toronto Mayor

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Two more names will be on the list shortly to compete against Rob Ford for his job this fall: Karen Stintz and John Tory.


Tory announced late Sunday that he will run for mayor this fall, just hours before Stintz was set to formally join the mayoral race herself.


In a news release, Tory pledged to "devote every day to making our city more liveable, more affordable and more functional."


Tory said that his "number one priority will be to build transit and fix traffic congestion," and that he would "make building the subway relief line my top priority."


Stintz, the three-term councillor for Ward 16 Eglinton-Lawrence, had previously said that she would pursue a mayoral bid. She held off entering the race formally until council named a replacement for her as TTC chair.


On Sunday, Stintz told CBC News that Toronto "needs a leader who is accountable and responsible" and talked about the need to combat the growing congestion problems in the city.


Chow, Minnan-Wong yet to announce plans


The emergence of Tory and Stintz as mayoral contenders brings into sharper focus the field of candidates who will be vying for the mayor’s job on Oct. 27.


Trinity-Spadina MP Olivia Chow has said she is considering a bid herself, as has Coun. Denzil Minnan-Wong. But neither has announced a final decision on the matter or filed papers thus far.


Two former city councillors, David Soknacki and Norm Gardner, had already filed papers in January, along with more than two dozen other candidates, including Ford himself.


Soknacki, a former city budget chief, announced his intent to run long before he registered to do so in January. On transit, the mayoral candidate has so far said that he believes the city should be building light-rail in Scarborough, rather than a more costly subway expansion project that council approved last year.


Ford registered to run for re-election on Jan. 2, the first day it was possible for him to do so.


The incumbent mayor has long said he relishes the opportunity to debate his opponents. He has also predicted that the campaign is going to be "a bloodbath."


Last week, the mayor’s brother, Coun. Doug Ford, announced that he would not be running again as a councillor and also that he would not run provincially. Instead, he will focus on his brother’s campaign and serve as the mayor’s campaign manager.


Second mayoral run for Tory


For Tory, the formal announcement of his candidacy comes after a long period of speculation that the former leader of Ontario’s Progressive Conservative party would take the plunge.


For the past four-plus years, Tory has hosted a radio show on a Toronto radio station.


He took up the radio gig a few months after resigning his position as the Progressive Conservative leader in 2009.


Tory also had political experience dating back to the Ontario government led by former premier Bill Davis. He worked as the then-premier’s principal secretary for five years in the 1980s.


In 2003, Tory ran for mayor of Toronto, but finished behind David Miller, who went on to serve a second term as mayor.


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