Former Mayoral candidates Gil Penalosa, Chloe Brown express interest in running in by-election

Hours after Toronto Mayor John Tory announced that he would be stepping down from his position, two of his former mayoral co-candidates have expressed interest in running for mayor in the by-elections that are likely to occur in the next few months.

When asked about running for mayor by media outlets, Columbia-born urbanist Gil Penalosa stated, “Yes, I’m considering because nothing has changed in the last 100 days”, referring to the recent developments as a “transformative 24 hours for our city.”

“I had more votes than the five top counselors together. So I do think that there is a responsibility with them…I think that we were moving in the wrong direction. I think that Toronto has a fantastic opportunity to rethink issues,” Penalosa added, speaking to media outlets.

Alongside Penalosa, fellow former mayoral candidate Chloe Brown, according to media reports, has also shown interest in throwing her name in the hat for the mayoral by-elections, stating that there is “a lot of buzz right now” and that she is “seriously thinking about it.”

John Tory, Gil Penalosa, Blake Acton, Sarah Climenhaga, Stephen Punwasi, and Chloe Brown were all in the running for mayor in the 2022 municipal election.

While Tory won, Penalosa closed in second with around 18% of the votes. Brown, in the same election, accrued 34,821 votes.

It may be pertinent to note that Mayor Tory has yet to formally step down from his position as the Toronto City Mayor, with media reports suggesting that he has not yet handed over his resignation to the City Clerk.