Chiara Padovani has won in an upset race in York-South Weston, with longtime councillor Frances Nunziata expected to win.
A poll from Forum Research predicted that incumbent Frances Nunziata would lead the race in York South-Weston with 34 per cent support. Daniel DiGiorgio was expected to follow with 30 per cent, while Chiara Padovani was forecasted 28 per cent.
The race was close in the 2022 municipal election, when Nunziata narrowly defeated Padovani, receiving 10,077 votes to Padovani’s 9,983.
Currently, 60 of 62 polls reporting, incumbent Nunziata has come in third place at the polls with 21.6 per cent of the vote behind Daniel Di Giorgio. Chiara Padovani has won with 38 per cent.
Frances Nunziata had been the current councillor for Ward 5 since 1997. She began her political career when she was elected school board trustee in 1985.
Nunziata was the mayor of the City of York from 1994 to 1997, before the city was amalgamated in January 1998. During the 2022 election, she won by a slight margin of 94 votes.
Throughout her time in office, Nunziata has been in favour of building affordable housing through the multi-unit residential acquisition program (MURA).
Chiara Padovani's focal point has centered around social work, working with the North York Harvest Food Bank and is the former co-chair of and one of the founders of the York South-Weston Tenants’ Union, an organization that supported tenants fighting for affordable rent, among other rights.
Padovani has run for councillor in Ward 5 twice. In 2018, she came in third place with 20 per cent of the votes. In 2022, she came in second place, losing to long-time incumbent Frances Nunziata by 94 votes.
