Knocking on doors pays off for PC’s Ke

Surges to victory overoo longtime city councillor Carroll

Progressive Conservative candidate Vincent Ke surged to victory over his Liberal rival, longtime Toronto city councillor Shelley Carroll, in the riding of Don Valley North on Thursday night.

Ke, an electrical engineer, had 41 44 per cent of the vote with 43 out of 86 polls reporting, a nine per cent lead over Carroll.

Both candidates had crisscrossed the riding during the campaign, knowing that it would come down to who knocked on the most doors.

Carroll had the name recognition in the provincial riding, which ww encompasses all of her f former city ward of where she spent 15 years as councillor. Ke had the advantage of speaking Mandarin — not to mention Taiwanese, German and English — in a multicultural community mm where a large percent- age a of residents identify as a visible minority.

“Quite frankly, I’m exhausted,” Carroll said, just days before the election.

Ke was so busy campaigning he left his cellphone at his campaign headquarters and didn’t stop to do interviews. His deputy campaign manager Christina Liu said Ke had knocked on 30,000 doors.

At press time, the NDP candidate Akil Sadikali, a software developer, had picked up 20 per cent of the vote. Libertarian Sarah Matthews, None of the Above candidate Alexander Verstraten and Green Party member Janelle Yanishewski accounted for the remainder.

The North York riding of 110,000 was newly created in 2015 to mirror the federal riding of the same name, which stretches from Bayview Ave. east to Victoria Park Ave. and from Hwy. 401 north to Steeles Ave.

About 70 per cent of residents identify as a visible minority. Carroll says the community has one of the highest proportions of millennials outside the city’s downtown core.