Doug Ford not running for Toronto city council in byelection

TORONTO – Former Toronto city councillor Doug Ford, brother of the controversial late mayor Rob Ford, says he will not be running for a vacant seat in Toronto’s city council.

Ford hinted that he might run for the council seat previously held by Raymond Cho in a late-night media release, saying he would be at city hall for “the registration for the Ward 42 byelection.”

Registration for the seat has been open since Nov. 10.

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But he told the Toronto TV station CP24 on Friday that he was just going to support another candidate’s registration.

Ford held a west Toronto council seat until 2014, when he unsuccessfully ran for mayor after his brother dropped out following a cancer diagnosis.

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He was one of his brother’s closest advisers during the the younger Ford’s scandal-plagued term as Toronto’s mayor.

In September, Doug Ford said he’d be running for political office again “within about a year.”

He suggested he may run for council, provincial office or even to be leader of the federal Conservative Party.