John Tory has taken a significant lead in Toronto mayoral campaign.  The former Ontario Progressive Conservative leader now has the support of 42 percent of Toronto voters according to a new Nanos Research poll. Mayor Rob Ford is in second place with 28 percent support.  Olivia Chow has 26 percent voter support.

The poll also suggests John Tory is seen by voters as the most trustworthy(42 percent), the most competent (51 percent), the candidate who can best represent Toronto (50 percent), the candidate most likely to keep campaign promises (36 percent), control spending (41 percent) and with the best vision for urban transit (38 percent).

Ford has only 19 percent support as the most trustworthy.  He fared poorly at 18 percent on the competency question, but was competitive at 34 percent on the question of which candidate would keep spending in line.

Ford opted out of last night’s mayoral debate hosted by the Greenwood Community Association, and instead went door to door campaigning in the Jane and Finch area.  Tory, Chow and David Soknacki took part in the debate where transit was the front and centre issue.

Ford has pulled out of the debate held this morning which is sponsored by Film Ontario. He instead announced his transit plan which boasts 32-kilometres of new subway lines at a cost of $9.1 billion.

The municipal election is October 27th.