Former Toronto District School Board Trustee Rachel Chernos Lin has won the byelection in Ward 15 – Don Valley West, according to the city’s unofficial results.
With all 52 polls reporting on Monday night, Chernos Lin beat out columnist and broadcaster Anthony Furey by more than 5,500 votes.
The two were the leading contenders for the council seat vacated following the death of former councillor Jaye Robinson, who represented the Don Valley West area for years.
Chernos Lin, who had more than 50 percent of the votes, said the results showed that residents wanted local leadership. Furey doesn’t currently live in the ward but grew up nearby.
“They want experience. Experience matters. They want optimism. They do not want division. They want optimism. They want someone who is going to bring people together, who’s going to get things done, who’s going to work collaboratively, and who’s going, who’s going to really care about Ward 15,” she said during her victory speech at Laird Pub.
During the campaign, Chernos Lin’s supporters characterized Furey as an “extreme right” candidate who must be stopped.
“I really think this has been a repudiation of the negativity and the division, and this is a call for moving forward, for progressing forward with kindness, with caring, with optimism, and, and, and with a really positive attitude, and I can’t wait to work with Ward 15 to do just that,” the former school trustee added.
Chernos Lin garnered 12,899 votes while Furey received 7,343. Sam Robinson came in third with 1,271 votes.
Chernos Lin, who also served as TDSB chair for two years, promised to tackle gridlock and crime, make the community more walkable, and make sure that new developments reflect “our community’s values.”
Present at Chernos Lin’s victory party were several city councillors and Mayor Olivia Chow, who said the councillor-elect is focused on getting a lot of things done for the people of Don Valley West.
Speaking about her experience working with Chernos Lin while she was the TDSB chair, the mayor described her as a collaborative person.
“The fact that she got more than 50 per cent of the votes tells you that people have faith in her delivering results right here,” Chow said.
Meanwhile, Furey congratulated Chernos Lin for her win.
“I want to wish Rachel Chernos Lin well during her time as a councillor moving forward. I hope she serves the residents of Don Valley West well these next two years, and I’m sure she will,” Furey said.
He said running for Ward 15 councillor had been an “experience of a lifetime” before claiming that his campaign was up against “one of the ugliest voter suppression campaigns” in recent Toronto political history.
“It’s very unfortunate, but the one thing that we can be proud of is while there were some voices out there that went negative, we always stayed positive,” Furey said.
He concluded his concession speech: “This is a great city – a city worth fighting for, and I know we’re gonna continue to do just that.”
According to the unofficial byelection results, 23,555 votes were cast.