What to know about the race in Ward 21 - Scarborough Centre

Voters line up outside a voting station to cast their ballot in the Toronto's municipal election in Toronto on Monday, October 22 , 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

Since being elected to council in 2003, Michael Thompson has comfortably cruised through every municipal election. In 2018, he got more than 69 per cent of the votes in Ward 21 - Scarborough Centre.

However, it will be interesting to see how the longtime Toronto councillor will fare on election day after being charged with two counts of sexual assault in the middle of the campaign.

Late last month, the Ontario Provincial Police laid the charges against Thompson in connection with an alleged incident in Muskoka last July.

Police have not released further details about the incident, but Thompson’s then-lawyer confirmed that the allegations were made by two women.

In the wake of the charges, the councillor agreed to step down as one of John Tory’s deputy mayors and from other municipal positions, including chair of Toronto’s Economic and Community Development Committee last week.

Thompson has vowed to fight the charges vigorously and reiterated that he will continue his re-election campaign.

Before he was charged, Thompson was widely considered to hold onto his seat and comfortably win his sixth term as councillor. It remains to be seen how the allegations will affect his bid to return to city council.

Eight days after the Oct. 24 election day, Thompson is scheduled to make a court appearance in Bracebridge.

Five other candidates are challenging Thompson, hoping to become Ward 21’s new council representative.

They include social justice activist Kiri Vadivelu, real estate businessman Muhammad Ayub, and construction management consultant Hansie Daniel.

According to his campaign website, among Vadivelu’s election promises are free transit, affordable housing, and defunding the police. For Ayub, he will prioritize keeping parks and neighbourhoods clean, lowering taxes, increasing crime prevention, tackling housing affordability and creating jobs.

Meanwhile, Daniel has six initiatives on his campaign website, including affordable housing, efficient and effective public transit, safer streets, and building more parks, recreation facilities and community gardens.

The other two candidates on the Ward 21 ballot, Paul Beatty and Luigi Lisciandro, previously ran in past municipal elections and were unsuccessful. Beatty placed second in 2018 with 6.84 per cent of the vote. Beatty and Lisciandro appear to have no campaign website.

Scarborough Centre at a glance:

Population: 112,605

Average number of people per household: 2.74

Median age: 39.8

Population growth over the last decade: 6.6 per cent (Toronto-wide average 9.1 per cent)

Visible minorities: 70 per cent (Toronto-wide average is 51 per cent)

Average household income: 70,624 (Toronto-wide average is $102,721)