Candidate check-up: Key takeaways from election night for Toronto's losing mayoral contenders

Olivia Chow was elected Toronto's new mayor and you can read all about her campaign and victory here.

But what about the other top candidates — how did their nights unfold?

Here's a breakdown for each and some brief thoughts on what might be next for them.

Ana Bailão 

A last-minute endorsement from former mayor John Tory may have helped Bailão rocket up the polls to second, but it was too little too late. At least that's what you might have thought in the election night fog.

But Bailão ran a strong, organized and well-funded campaign from the jump, and secured powerful union endorsements and the support of eight sitting councillors, more than any other candidate.

Bailão hasn't said what's next for her but she appears well-positioned to run again in three years. If Chow stumbles in the city's top spot, Bailão may have a clearer path to victory (2026 was likely her original target to begin with.)

After all, she captured 235,175 votes or 32.5 per cent of the total vote share. The closest finisher behind her was Mark Saunders, who received just over 62,000 votes. You can find full results here.

One challenge for Bailão: How does she stay in the public eye when she's not a sitting councillor?

Mark Saunders

The timing should have been right for the ex-police chief, as the campaign began on the heels of some frightening random attacks on the TTC.

Saunders also won Ontario Premier Doug Ford's endorsement, complete with robocalls and a starring role at Ford Fest in Scarborough. Despite that, he struggled to unite the conservative vote.

On the campaign trail, he was quick to attack but had few answers about his own plans, arguing he couldn't come up with a costed budget without being elected first. Many of his rivals didn't have that problem, and didn't shy away from attacking Saunders's record as chief.

Saunders has now lost a bid to be a Progressive Conservative MPP and this shot at becoming Toronto's mayor. Will he run again at another level? Speaking to media at his election night party, Saunders didn't rule it out.

Anthony Furey

The former Toronto Sun columnist enjoyed a steady rise in the polls throughout the campaign to finish fourth — albeit a distant fourth.

Now here's the question his camp will be asking: Is his loss a repudiation of the hard-line conservative ideas he put out there? Ripping up bike lanes, phasing out supervised injection sites and clearing homeless encampments with no plan to house those who are forced to leave their tents were among his top priorities.

Or, will that be the kind of approach Toronto embraces in the future?

Based on Monday's results, much of the city seems to be moving in the opposite direction of Furey's politics. 

Josh Matlow

The current city councillor for Toronto–St. Paul's ran a campaign that felt true to who he is as a politician, even if that wound up having limited appeal.

A good question for the coming weeks will be how he works with Chow. During the campaign, Matlow was critical yet cordial. He admitted on election night that his campaign had been "squeezed" by Chow, saying "there was room for one progressive candidate, and that was Olivia."

Matlow had a tumultuous relationship with former mayor Tory, often acting as his loudest critic in council. That meant he was largely sidelined from committees. Given the granular detail of Matlow's election platform, Chow could integrate some of his ideas and give him a bigger role in city governance during her mayoralty. 

Matlow also positioned himself as the candidate who wanted to take on Ford's government. Perhaps that will be something the new mayor can use, with several potential political battles with the premier on the horizon.

Mitzie Hunter

Hunter resigned her seat as a Liberal MPP at Queen's Park to run for mayor, which she might be regretting now. 

There's no question it was a disappointing election night for Hunter. She wasn't competitive in any ward, not even in her home suburb of Scarborough. She finished sixth with just 2.9 per cent of the vote share, only narrowly surpassing Chloe Brown, who came into the race with far less name recognition.

Her time in public office may be over (for now), but that doesn't mean Hunter can't play a role in the city moving forward. She was previously the chief administrative officer for Toronto Community Housing, so she has pretty extensive bureaucratic experience.

Hunter also spent a lot of time in the non-profit sphere before getting into politics. Maybe she'll return to her roots in that sector.

Chloe Brown

Brown won fewer votes than she did in last October's election but somehow this feels like a bigger win for her.

Her grassroots campaign beat Brad Bradford's machine. She almost caught Hunter. 

She once again ran a fearless campaign full of ideas that won praise from folks who keep a close eye on city hall and certainly won the respect of the veteran politicians she was competing with.

But what's next is up to Brown.

CBC Radio's Metro Morning asked her if she'd run for council, but she said her ideas were too big for that post. But surely Toronto would benefit by elevating a voice like hers.

Brad Bradford

It's hard to imagine anyone had a more disappointing election night than Bradford, the sitting city councillor for Beaches–East York. He picked up just over 9,000 votes, or 1.3 per cent of the total vote share.

Despite having some heavy hitters in the conservative political realm on his team, Bradford struggled to carve out a unique identity in a crowded field. 

But it's probably not a bad morning in the Bradford house. He had a second child during the campaign.

He's still a city councillor. And his intense focus on fixing Toronto's housing woes has registered. 

The question for Bradford: Does he find a way to become Chow's point person on housing, like he did with Tory? Or does he dig in his heels and become a loud opponent of the mayor on council?