Ana Bailão has been endorsed by the Toronto Star as the best candidate to be Toronto’s next mayor.

Calling her a pragmatic centrist, decision makers at the Star say they believe she could be trusted to lead the city sensibly, bridging the left and right factions on Toronto city council to achieve progress on Toronto’s challenges.

The Toronto Star story goes on to say she served 12 years on council representing Davenport and did a stint as a deputy mayor under former mayor John Tory. That’s attracted some criticism from those unhappy with Tory”s reign who predict that Bailão would only deliver more of the same.

But they point out Bailão has a very different background. She arrived in Canada from Portugal at the age of 15. She tells how she helped clean offices after school alongside her mother. She can speak to the working-class immigrant experience shared by so many.

The Star thinks she is best able to tackle the strange contradiction at the heart of Toronto today: a city whose economic power and cultural vitality make it among the world’s best but which faces a livability crisis that threatens much of what it has to offer.

Critically, Bailão has vital experience on the housing file, one of the pressing issues confronting this city. We feel her deep knowledge of this issue makes her well-placed to move the needle. In fact, she has a track record of moving that needle, when she served as chair of the planning and housing committee, where she supported initiatives to boost affordable housing.

Read the full story/endorsement by clicking here.

Ana Bailão has been polling second or third among decided voters in most of the polling to date.

The most recent from Mainstreet Research has her tied with Mark Saunders at 13 percent, 23 points behind the frontrunner Olivia Chow with 36 percent of decided voter support.