TORONTO (AP) – Mayor Rob Ford has put his name on the ballot to run for another term, defying repeated calls for him to step down after admitting he smoked crack “in a drunken stupor”.
Ford was the first candidate to show up at City Hall when registration opened yesterday for the city’s municipal election October 27.
He promised “Ford more years”, and also called himself “the best mayor this city has ever had”.
“If you want to get personal, that’s fine,” Ford told reporters during a press scrum. “I’m sticking to my record, and talk is cheap. You’re going to see action like you’ve never seen before.”
He was more restrained on Twitter, tweeting a photo of himself signing up to run again and saying simply, “Just filed my paperwork for the 2014 election. Vote on October 27th.”
The conservative mayor of Canada’s largest city has said he would run again, even after the revelations last year about his drug use pushed him into the international media spotlight.
Ford has faced intense pressure to resign over that and other erratic behavior that has embarrassed many Canadians.
The Toronto City Council has stripped Ford of most of his powers, but he continues to receive support from some in the city’s more conservative suburbs. He first won as mayor by promising to “stop the gravy train” of government spending.
Reactions were swift but mixed after Ford signed up to run again.
Ford admitted his drug use after Toronto police announced in October they had obtained a copy of a video of him appearing to smoke from a crack pipe. News reports of the video first emerged in May, but Ford at first denied its existence.
Court documents released last month detail police wiretaps of alleged gang members who spoke about delivering drugs to the mayor and having pictures of him using drugs.
The wiretaps are evidence in the case against Ford’s friend Alexander Lisi, who faces trial on drug and extortion charges. The mayor has not been charged.
In the weeks since the revelations, Ford has said he has quit drinking and adopted a healthier lifestyle.
