Toronto Councillor Raymond Cho hopes, with Doug Ford’s help, to wrest a Scarborough riding away from Premier Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals.

Cho, a councillor for a quarter-century, said in an interview Friday he will seek the Progressive Conservative nomination in Scarborough-Rouge River to replace Bas Balkissoon, who quit as Liberal MPP in March.

The Ward 42 councillor said Doug Ford, the former Ward 2 councillor, has agreed to co-manage his campaign with Cho’s wife, Soon Ok, who has run his past campaigns. Cho plans to take a leave of absence from council duties as soon as the byelection is called.

“I think it'll be a big plus,” he said of Ford’s help. “I like Doug Ford and he and his brother (the late former mayor) Rob Ford are very popular and respected in Scarborough. I get along with Doug Ford very well.”

Ford did not respond to a Star request for comment.

Cho ran in Scarborough-Rouge River in the 2014 election, finishing third behind Balkissoon and the NDP’s Neethan Shan, now a school trustee who plans to make it a rematch in the provincial byelection.

Cho blamed his 2014 loss in the “Liberal riding” on then-PC leader Tim Hudak’s disastrous vow to cut 100,000 civil service jobs, saying it soured his support at doorsteps to the point that he quit campaigning altogether.

Cho, 79, said both he and his wife had decided he should not run provincially again, and he invited Ford to breakfast about three weeks ago to persuade him to try to grab the seat for the PCs.

The ex-councillor seemed excited by the idea, but said he had to get his family’s support, Cho said.

A short time later, he added, Ontario PC Leader Patrick Brown asked Cho to consider another run, inviting Cho and his wife to Queen’s Park. Cho said his wife told Brown she was worried about the future of his council office staff if he won provincially, and that her “stubborn” husband would not be free to speak his mind.

Brown won her over, assuring them staff could apply for jobs at Queen’s Park and saying he respects Cho’s independence and would let him vote his conscience, Cho said.

“This time I was determined not to run, but Patrick Brown really impressed me,” Cho said. “He's really a people person. He will be a premier like Bill Davis.”

Brown’s staff told him Ford had decided for family reasons not to run in Scarborough but is leaving the door open to seeking an Etobicoke seat in the 2018 election, Cho said, adding he spoke with Ford at a Wednesday fundraising dinner for Brown.

“He said, ‘Sure, Raymond, I would be happy to help’” run the campaign, Cho said.

Brown, who was at Toronto City Hall on Friday to meet with Mayor John Tory, told reporters he is encouraging as many candidates as possible to run for his party, and that a track record on council would “probably be a benefit to them.” “Doug Ford is entitled to run (in the byelection) as is Councillor Raymond Cho,” Brown said.

Cho immigrated to Canada from Korea in 1967, earning a doctorate in education and becoming a school board social worker.

After a failed run for the federal NDP in 1988, he became a Liberal and was first elected to the now-defunct Metro council in 1991. He has represented the Rouge River-Malvern area of the amalgamated city since 1998.

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Cho said that if he is elected provincially, he will endorse his council executive assistant, Hratch Aynedjian, to replace him as Ward 42 councillor.

The Progressive Conservative nomination meeting is June 4. The Liberals are set to choose their standard bearer in Scarborough-Rouge River one day later.

With files from Jennifer Pagliaro

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