The chair of the 色色啦 District School Board, backed by prominent Liberal politicians, has fended off a challenge from a divisive former newspaper pundit to become city councillor for Don Valley West.
Rachel Chernos Lin won Monday’s special byelection in Ward 15 with almost 12,900 votes, or about 55 per cent, according to unofficial results posted by the city, beating out conservative Anthony Furey. Her win follows a closely watched and sometimes nasty campaign in which progressives rallied around her to block Furey鈥檚 path to victory.
At an election night party at the Leaside Pub, Chernos Lin听said her win is a “repudiation of negativity and division” and likened her campaign against Furey to the U.S. presidential election.
Furey came second with about 31 per cent of the vote. Speaking to disappointed supporters at his headquarters at a former Mercedes dealership, he congratulated Chernos Lin and said he was sure she would serve the ward鈥檚 residents well.听
He said he was inspired by his team鈥檚 fight for 鈥減ositive change,鈥 but claimed they had been up against 鈥渙ne of the ugliest voter suppression campaigns that we have seen in recent 色色啦 political history.鈥澨
鈥淭he one thing that we can be proud of is that while there were some voices out there that went negative, we always stayed positive,鈥 Furey said, to cheers from the crowd.听
The Ward 15 byelection was called after longtime representative Jaye Robinson died of cancer in May. Sixteen candidates signed up to replace her, including architect Sheena Sharp, Thorncliffe Park community advocate Shakhlo Sharipova, activist Lesley Stoyan and the late councillor鈥檚 son Sam Robinson. Robinson came a distant third with fewer than 1,300 votes.
Late in the race, two left-leaning candidates 鈥 Evan Sambasivam and Dhruv Jain 鈥 dropped out to back Chernos Lin, who they said had the best chance of beating Furey.
Municipal byelections are normally low-key affairs, because a change to a single seat on 色色啦鈥檚 26-member council isn鈥檛 likely to affect the outcome of city hall decisions. But Furey鈥檚 entrance into the Ward 15 race attracted the attention of local political heavyweights.
Former Ontario Liberal premier Kathleen Wynne, who represented Don Valley West provincially for almost 20 years,听campaigned for Chernos Lin, alleging Furey鈥檚 record as a political commentator showed he had 鈥渂igoted鈥 views against Muslims and gay people. Left-wing advocacy group Progress 色色啦 also accused him of 鈥渉armful鈥 anti-Muslim rhetoric, and delivered anti-Furey leaflets in the ward.
Furey听rejected Wynne鈥檚 allegations that he held 鈥渂igoted鈥 views, and called accusations that his record as a political commentator included Islamophobic or homophobic statements 鈥渙ut-of-context smear attacks.鈥
Not a resident of the ward, he presented himself as a 鈥渃ommon-sense鈥 conservative, vowing to fight worsening traffic, clamp down on crime, oppose tax increases, and remove bike lanes in the ward. Prominent Conservative figures such as Ontario Energy Minister Stephen Lecce and former Ontario PC leader Tim Hudak campaigned for him.
Chernos Lin, who has served as chair of the TDSB for two years, pitched herself as the most experienced candidate, vowing to ease gridlock, institute traffic calming in local neighbourhoods, and give residents a greater say in the development process.
There are about 70,000 eligible voters in Ward 15, according to city statistics for the 2022 municipal election. Just over 23,500 cast a ballot in Monday’s byelection according to the unofficial count, about 1,000 more than in 2022, for a turnout of around 34 per cent.
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