Karen Stintz may drop out of mayoral race: report
Posted August 21, 2014 8:23 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Unanswered doors and a lack of media availability are leading some to speculate mayoral candidate Karen Stintz will be dropping out of the race.
The National Post reports that no one answered the door at Stintz’s campaign office on Wednesday.
Stintz didn’t comment after Tuesday’s TTC board meeting, which she used to chair.
Her campaign Facebook site hasn’t been updated since Aug. 13, but there has been some action on Twitter.
Stintz’s press secretary told the newspaper she has no comment on whether Stintz is dropping out and has nothing to say about any speculation.
Calls to Stintz’s campaign office were not answered Thursday morning.
She is expected to make an announcement at 11 a.m. at City Hall; however, it’s not clear what it is about. The news conference will be live streamed on this website.
The councillor has trailed in the polls, with the latest numbers showing her slipping behind David Soknacki at four per cent.
680News political affairs specialist John Stall said it wouldn’t came as a surprise if Stintz dropped of the race.
“It would be for a couple of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that her level of support has not grown beyond the four or five per cent since she entered the race,” Stall said.
He also said candidates’ decisions to drop out of the mayoral race are often made as Labour Day approaches.
Stall said another reason why Stintz may withdraw from the race is that she likely out of campaign money.
It’s not yet known which candidate Stintz will support if she drops out of the race; however, Stall said she could endorse fellow mayoral candidate John Tory.
“Another four to five per cent support may help fuel his campaign to the finish line,” Stall said.
In the 2010 election, mayoral candidate Rocco Rossi withdrew from the race just two weeks ahead of the vote. Sarah Thomson withdrew on Sept. 28.
Stintz is scheduled to appear at a mayoral debate hosted by Heritage Toronto Thursday night.
There are still 70 candidates, including Stintz, listed as mayoral candidates on the City of Toronto’s election website.
Click here to see video interviews with 37 mayoral candidates.
