Olivia Chow, John Tory picking up endorsements

A handful of Toronto councillors have endorsed their preferred candidate for mayor this fall, as two high-profile contenders try to stay squarely in the election spotlight.

On Tuesday, Olivia Chow was endorsed by four city councillors who are seeking re-election: Sarah Doucette, Mike Layton, Joe Mihevc and Gord Perks.

Those came on the heels of Jaye Robinson's endorsement of John Tory the day before.

Added together, those five endorsements represent about 10 per cent of the members of the current council.

Chow and Tory have been in the running for months, but now face a new opponent in Doug Ford, who made a surprise entry into the mayoral race last Friday.

Ford registered to run after his brother, Mayor Rob Ford, dropped out of the race.

Doctors recently discovered a tumour in the mayor's abdomen, and he has been in hospital for the past six days. An update on his condition is expected to come as soon as Wednesday.

So far, Doug Ford has yet to release a platform or participate in a debate. But his name keeps coming up in questions aimed at Chow and Tory.

As Tory tried to keep the focus on gridlock when speaking to reporters at a news conference on Tuesday, he was asked questions about what Ford's status as a candidate means for the mayoral race.

"I think it just puts in starker relief the choice that people have," Tory said.

On gridlock, Tory reiterated his push to crack down on delivery vehicles blocking lanes on major roads during rush hour and also for the city to better co-ordinate construction projects.

Tory said many of his ideas for gridlock have been proposed before, but have not been implemented. He plans to change that if he is elected mayor.

The Oct. 27 election is less than six weeks away. Dozens of candidates in addition to Chow, Ford and Tory are seeking to be elected mayor.