Mayoral candidate David Soknacki says he will continue campaigning this weekend after previously suggesting that he may drop out of the race.
Soknacki, who has been trailing a distant fourth place in the polls, had said last week that he and his advisors would make bi-weekly decisions on whether it makes sense to stay in the race for mayor.
During a phone interview with radio station Newstalk 1010 Saturday afternoon, Soknacki said his supporters are “a different group” of people who back his ideas on a variety of issues including parks and community housing.
“After Labour Day, I expect people will take the time to figure out who they want to vote for and who’s going to move the city forward,” Soknacki said. “You’ll see a different voting pattern as we get closer to election day.”
In the most recent poll released last week by Nanos Research, Soknacki had the support of just three per cent of decided voters – well behind leading candidate John Tory who came in at 42 per cent, incumbent mayor Rob Ford at 28 per cent and Olivia Chow at 26 per cent.
While taking a break from greeting people on the campaign trail, Soknacki told the radio station that a lot of people tell him they think he would make the best mayor, but are reluctant to vote for him because they don’t think he’ll win.
“What I say to people is... don’t make [a decision] now cause you’ve got a lot of time to evaluate not only myself but my competitors and to figure out who exactly is going to be best for our city,” he said.
Soknacki would not be the first high-profile candidate to leave the mayoral race. Coun. Karen Stintz quit last month after a series of polls had her hovering around 5 per cent in fifth place. Stintz said it was financially difficult for her to continue campaigning when she wasn’t getting enough momentum and she also announced that she would be leaving politics after the end of this council’s term.
