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Rob Ford, Toronto Mayor, Withdraws Re-election Bid Rob Ford, Toronto Mayor, Withdraws Re-election Bid
(about 5 hours later)
OTTAWA — While in a hospital for the treatment of a tumor, Mayor Rob Ford of Toronto withdrew his bid for re-election Friday afternoon. Minutes later, a representative for Doug Ford, the mayor’s brother who is a City Council member, formally registered him as a mayoral candidate. OTTAWA — While in a hospital for the treatment of a tumor, Mayor Rob Ford of Toronto withdrew his bid for re-election Friday afternoon. Minutes later, a representative of Doug Ford, the mayor’s brother and a City Council member, formally registered him as a mayoral candidate.
But Rob Ford, whose confessions of crack cocaine use and binge drinking made him something of a celebrity, is not abandoning politics. He applied to run as a City Council candidate in a ward where his nephew, Michael Ford, withdrew his candidacy on Friday. But Rob Ford, whose confessions of crack cocaine use and binge drinking brought him a dubious kind of celebrity, is not abandoning politics. He applied to run as a City Council candidate in a ward where his nephew Michael Ford withdrew his candidacy on Friday.
“With the advice of my family and doctors, I know I need to focus on getting better,” Rob Ford wrote in a statement. “There is much work to be done, and I can’t give it my all at this point in time. My heart is heavy when I tell you that I’m unable to continue my campaign for re-election as your mayor.”“With the advice of my family and doctors, I know I need to focus on getting better,” Rob Ford wrote in a statement. “There is much work to be done, and I can’t give it my all at this point in time. My heart is heavy when I tell you that I’m unable to continue my campaign for re-election as your mayor.”
He said he had asked his brother to replace him in the mayoral race. Mr. Ford said his brother was running as the family’s substitute candidate at his request.
“I’ve asked Doug to finish what we started together, so that all we’ve accomplished isn’t washed away,” he wrote. On Friday evening, Doug Ford, pausing occasionally to regain his composure, held a news conference on the driveway of his mother’s house. “He told me he couldn’t bear the thought of City Hall returning to the old ways at the expense of good, honest, everyday people,” Doug Ford said of his brother.
Doug Ford did not comment to reporters when he appeared at the city clerk’s office to finalize his registration 10 minutes before the final deadline for ballot changes for the Oct. 27 election. The last-minute shuffling by the Ford family members was the latest in the series of unanticipated events dating to May 2013, when both The Toronto Star and Gawker reported viewing a video of Rob Ford smoking crack. Mr. Ford vigorously denied using drugs or losing control while drunk until suddenly confessing in November.
While doctors are still waiting for analysis of a biopsy to determine the nature of the mayor’s abdominal tumor, which has been described as large, his decision to quit the race prompted speculation that, at the very least, his condition may require prolonged treatment. “The city is stunned, and certainly so am I,” said Jaye Robinson, a member of the City Council and a former ally of Mr. Ford. “Toronto has been made an international farce because of the brothers. It never ceases to amaze me what they can pull out of their hats.”
The Ford brothers have long acted almost as dual mayors with Doug Ford also serving as his brother’s campaign manager and de facto spokesman. Since his election as mayor in 2010, Rob frequently seemed disinterested in the details of political life and civic administration, leaving many of those matters to Doug. Developers and other businesspeople with plans to promote often sidestepped the mayor and dealt directly with his older brother. While doctors are waiting for analysis of a biopsy to determine the nature of the mayor’s tumor, which is in his abdomen and has been described as large, his decision to quit the race prompted speculation that he may require prolonged treatment.
While Doug does not share his brother’s reputation for substance abuse and sometimes wild living, The Globe and Mail, a Toronto newspaper, reported that he sold hashish to several drug dealers for several years during the 1980s. Both brothers have been active in a successful label printing business founded by their father, Doug Ford Sr. After the death of their father, Doug Ford became its president and expanded the business by opening a second operation in the Chicago area. The Ford brothers have long acted almost as dual mayors, with Doug Ford also serving as his brother’s campaign manager and de facto spokesman. Since his election in 2010, Rob Ford frequently seemed uninterested in the details of political life and civic administration, leaving many of those matters to Doug.
News reports have indicated that the brothers, separately and together, sometimes pressured city employees on behalf of some clients of their company, Deco Labels and Tags. Conversely, Doug Ford has never appeared to share his brother’s enthusiasm for meeting with voters and campaigning.
With less than six weeks remaining to campaign, Doug Ford’s immediate priority will most likely be fund-raising. None of the roughly $2 million raised by his brother can be transferred under Ontario’s municipal campaign laws. Though Doug Ford does not share his brother’s reputation for substance abuse and occasional wild living that has made Rob Ford the target of a police investigation, The Globe and Mail has reported that Doug sold hashish to several drug dealers during the 1980s.
John Tory, a rival candidate for mayor, said Doug Ford’s tendency to disparage critics made him an even less attractive prospect for mayor than Rob. “I don’t think Doug Ford offers Toronto more of the same,” he said. “In fact, he may offer Toronto something worse. I don’t think we can continue with the politics of division in this city anymore.”