Go democracy! 2 Toronto ridings, 3 elections, 34 candidates (and counting)

TORONTO – Democracy nerds, take note: Voters in two Toronto ridings will go to the polls three times over the next five months, electing representatives at all levels of government.

The federal MP from one riding has stepped down to run for mayor and her former campaign chair is running against the local municipal councillor.

The federal MP from another riding has stepped down to run for councillor in a ward with no incumbent and the former Premier’s former aide is hoping to take his place.

Confused yet? Let us explain.

Trinity-Spadina and Scarborough-Agincourt are both federal and provincial electoral districts. The area of Trinity-Spadina also encompasses Toronto Wards 19 and 20. Scarborough-Agincourt encompasses Wards 39, 40 and 41.

The Ontario election is June 12. Federal byelections in these two ridings are June 30. And Toronto’s municipal vote is Oct. 27.

That all adds up to a dizzying number of candidates vying for these residents’ votes – at least 16 people in Trinity-Spadina and 18 in Scarborough-Agincourt, in various local races – not to mention the 54 registered mayoral candidates also running in October’s municipal election.

Still with me? Awesome.

Now here’s where it gets confusing.

Many of the candidates’ names and faces will be familiar, but you could forgive voters for having trouble keeping track of what election they’re actually running in.

Trinity-Spadina

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(Infographic by Janet Cordahi, Global News)

Municipal:  Ward 19 incumbent councillor Mike Layton will run again against Albina Burello, Geeta Chopra and George Sawision.

Ward 20 councillor Adam Vaughan won’t run again – instead, Vaughan will run in the federal byelection as a Liberal, vying for the seat vacated by former NDP MP Olivia Chow. Chow resigned her seat in the House of Commons in March to run against Rob Ford in Toronto’s mayoral race.

Provincial: Incumbent New Democrat Rosario Marchese is campaigning against Liberal candidate Han Dong, Roberta Scott for the Progressive Conservatives, Green candidate Tim Grant and Andrew Echevarria for the Libertarians.

Marchese has been an Ontario MPP since 1990 and has held the Trinity-Spadina riding since 1999, however in the last provincial election he finished just 1,139 votes ahead of the Liberal candidate, Sarah Thomson.

Federal: Trinity-Spadina has been a longtime battleground between the NDP and Liberals, and Vaughan’s name recognition will likely make it a much closer race. Chow’s former campaign manager Joe Cressy will try to keep the riding orange, running against Vaughan and Conservative candidate Benjamin Sharma.

Scarborough-Agincourt

View image in full screen

(Infographic by Janet Cordahi, Global News)

Municipal: Ward 39 is represented by Mike Del Grande, but Mayor Rob Ford’s long-suffering former budget chief announced in February he won’t seek re-election. Running to replace Del Grande are Christopher Blueman, Cozette Giannini, Clayton Jones, Franco Ng, Patricia Sinclair and Jim Karygiannis (more on him later).

In Ward 40, deputy mayor Norm Kelly is running unopposed, although nominations for the municipal elections will be accepted until mid-September.

In Ward 41, incumbent Chin Lee is running against Cynthia Lai and Sivavathani Prabaharan.

Provincial: Scarborough-Agincourt has been a Liberal stronghold since 1987. Incumbent Soo Wong will fight to retain her seat against Liang Hsuan Chen (PC), Alex Wilson (NDP), Pauline Thompson (Green) and Mark Sinclair (Libertarian).

Federal: Liberal incumbent Jim Karygiannis resigned on April 1 throwing his hat into the municipal election for Ward 39. Karygiannis had held the federal seat since 1988 but the Conservatives have chipped away at the Liberal share of the vote over the past decade. Arnold Chan, former aide to Ontario’s ex-premier Dalton McGuinty, is hoping to keep the riding Liberal despite a years-long slide in support. He’s running against Trevor Ellis (Conservative) and Elizabeth Long (NDP).