Dianne Saxe beats Norm Di Pasquale after seesaw battle in Ward 11

Oct 24, 2022 | Headlines, Municipal Election 2022, News

By Chelsea Dowie, Asher Klaver, Philip Lau and Jeferson Quiros-Vargas

After a long night of vote counting, Dianne Saxe finally emerged the winner in Ward 11, beating Norm Di Pasquale.

Both candidates, who each had leads in the vote count at different times on Monday evening in Toronto’s municipal election, were battling to replace Mike Layton as the city councillor in University-Rosedale.

Heading into the vote, Saxe, an expert in environmental law, had been favored to be the next Ward 11 councillor polling at 38 per cent in a Forum Research survey of 216 people taken by telephone on Sept. 14.

She ran on a platform of green standards and environmentalism with her background as an environmental lawyer and former Environmental Commissioner of Ontario.

Robin Buxton Potts was appointed to sit in as Ward 13 councillor for the past five months and is now running for the Ward 11 seat, with polls showing her support at 26 per cent.

Buxton Potts is a lifelong Torontonian and runs on a platform of equality, affordability and more accessible neighbourhoods in Toronto.

Axel Arvizu is a self-described businessman and resident of Ward 11, who polls in with 18 per cent of the vote.

The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus seven per cent.

Ex-councillor Mike Layton, who held the seat for four years, is not running to spend more time with family.

CBC reports that while the results of Monday’s vote will be confirmed on Tuesday, official results may not come for several days.