Doug Ford considering running for mayor of Toronto in 2018

Former Toronto mayoral candidate Doug Ford is suggesting he’s pondering another run.

“I am assembling a team to explore a run for mayor in 2018 and we’ll see what happens after we sit down and talk to a few people,” the former city councillor told Kelly Cutrara show guest host Peter Shurman on AM640 Friday.

Toronto’s next municipal election is more than a year away, but a new poll suggests a tight race could be brewing between Mayor John Tory and his 2014 opponent.

LISTEN ABOVE: Doug Ford joins AM640 guest host Peter Shurman.

The telephone poll conducted by Forum Research showed Tory has the support of 40 per cent of respondents, compared to 38 per cent for Ford. Tory’s lead is within the poll’s three-per-centage point margin of error.

Twenty-two per cent of those polled said they would prefer another candidate if a municipal election were held today.

At the same time, the poll showed the mayor’s popularity is up three percentage points since April. Fifty per cent of those polled approve of the mayor’s performance, compared to 31 per cent who disapprove.

In 2014, Tory beat Ford by a margin of 16.2 per cent — more than 64,100 votes.

Toronto voters will head to the polls again on Oct. 22, 2018, with the nomination period for candidates opening on May 1.

Tory’s office confirmed he will be seeking a second term.

Communications director Don Peat said via email that the election is still more than a year away and the mayor is currently “focused on standing up for Toronto and doing the job he was elected to do — building transit, tackling traffic congestion, and getting more affordable housing in the city.”

Ford has suggested several times in the years following his defeat that he may be interested in running for public office again, either at the municipal or provincial level.

Compared with the results of previous Forum polls conducted earlier this year, support for Ford as mayor is on the upswing.

“Doug Ford and John Tory are virtually tied, which is remarkable given that just six months ago John Tory led Ford by almost 30 per cent,” Lorne Bozinoff, president of Forum Research, said in a media release. “Perhaps what makes this result all the more concerning for the mayor, is that support is galvanizing against him for a candidate that hasn’t even declared yet.”

The results are based on a random telephone survey of 1,035 Torontonians conducted on May 25, 27 and 28. The poll is considered accurate within plus or minus three per cent, 19 times out of 20.