Mayoral candidate Rob Davis suspends campaign to endorse Anthony Furey

A Toronto mayoral candidate announced on Tuesday evening that he is dropping out of the byelection race and will instead endorse Anthony Furey for mayor.

Rob Davis, a former city councillor, said he has come to the "difficult" decision to suspend his campaign but reached the "easy" decision to throw his support behind Furey, a former Toronto Sun columnist and a father of three.

"As you all know Toronto is at a crossroads," Davis told reporters in Scarborough. Davis added he was the first person to register as a mayoral candidate on April 3 and the first candidate to drop out of the race to endorse another candidate.

"The decisions that we make on Monday as citizens of Toronto are going to impact the city for the next generation and maybe longer. And I want to take this opportunity to tell people that, if you have lived in Toronto as long as I have and if you love Toronto as much as I do, then you are going to support Anthony Furey on Monday."

Toronto goes to the polls on Monday to elect a new mayor. There are 102 names on the ballot.

Davis said campaigns are about policies, but winning election campaigns are about momentum. He said he knows Mark Saunders, Ana Bailão and Brad Bradford personally and they are "great people," but he believes only one candidate has the momentum to beat front runner Olivia Chow. Polls have put Chow in the lead for weeks.

Davis said he did not vote during the advance poll but will vote for Furey on Monday.

"If you want a safer Toronto, a cleaner Toronto, a kinder Toronto, then I'm asking to support Anthony Furey on Monday."

Furey said Davis was the first candidate to promise not to rename Dundas Street in Toronto if elected mayor because of the cost of doing so, estimated at millions of dollars, and Furey said he will adopt that position as well.

In July 2021, Toronto city council voted to rename Dundas Street due to Henry Dundas's association with the transatlantic slave trade. The issue cropped up two years ago amid global discussions and protests against racial injustice, inequality and anti-Black racism. 

Furey said he and Davis also agree on the idea of no more bike lanes on major streets in Toronto.

"This is a time for choosing," Furey said. "We can fix this."

On Tuesday evening, when asked about voter turnout, Furey urged people to vote on Monday.

"Every vote counts. Every vote matters," he added.