Mayor Race

Written by Billie Levey, 10/19/2026. 

1320 Yonge’s Ideas on the upcoming Mayoral Election

“I voted in every municipal, provincial and federal election,” a York School teacher recently told the Stand, speaking on the condition of anonymity like others in this article. "But I have never been so torn between candidates.”

With just a few weeks left before the Toronto mayoral election, this teacher is not alone in their uncertainty. One thing that is widely agreed on across the York School faculty is that this election is an important one. On Monday, October 26 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m, Toronto votes for its mayor. Currently, the position is held by Olivia Chow, who has been mayor for just over three years.

“What’s interesting about this election is that the candidates don’t just disagree on policy,” said a high school teacher. 

Recent polls highlight a highly competitive race as we head closer towards voting week. As of October 16, Incumbent mayor Olivia Chow maintains a 4% lead over her closest rival, Brad Bradford. 

While many teachers do find importance in this upcoming election, the students haven’t quite seemed to receive the memo. 

When asked about their thoughts on the election, ten out of eleven students answered that they simply didn’t care.

“It feels like no matter who is in charge of Toronto, nothing actually changes.” Said the one student who had an opinion, “We’ve been dealing with the same TTC delays and the endless construction and all of the crazy high living costs for years. I personally feel like when you see election signs everywhere making the same promises every time, it’s hard to care because it just feels like a promise that won’t change our reality in the end anyways.”

A strong reason behind this quote is that students at York are unable to vote in this election. The oldest students are only 17, one year short of voting. Overall, this will be an important election to Toronto, with multiple factors to consider.