Councillor Brad Bradford announces intention to run for Toronto mayor in 2026
Posted October 1, 2025 6:47 pm.
Last Updated October 2, 2025 10:33 am.
Toronto Coun. Brad Bradford has announced his intention to run for mayor again in the next election, scheduled for 2026.
Bradford, the city councillor for Beaches-East York, made the announcement in a YouTube interview on Tuesday. He has become the first to throw his hat in the ring for next year’s election.
He ran in the 2023 byelection to replace former Mayor John Tory, who stepped down, but finished eighth among the long list of candidates, capturing just under 10,000 votes.
Bradford was elected to a second term as a councillor in the 2022 municipal election. Before being elected to council, he worked as an urban planner with the City of Toronto from 2015 to 2018.
The municipal election is scheduled for Oct. 26, 2026.
A poll taken earlier this year by Liaison Strategies found that current Mayor Olivia Chow would hold onto her seat, with 39 per cent of those polled voting for her among decided voters and 34 per cent among all voters, in a poll that included Tory. Bradford was polling in third place behind Chow and Tory.
Without Tory, Chow saw her support jump to 49 per cent among decided voters and 41 per cent for all. Bradford was in second place with 19 per cent among decided voters and 16 per cent among all voters polled.
