Federal NDP leader Jack Layton has waded into the Toronto mayoral race, dubbing Joe Pantalone the “one choice” to move the city forward.

Layton announced his endorsement Wednesday morning at Nathan Phillips Square just before the start of the last city council meeting under current Mayor David Miller.

Layton said that, while serving alongside Pantalone on Metro and Toronto councils, and in more recent years, he has seen him take on project after project and finish them on-budget and on-time.

Layton singled out the deputy mayor’s transit advocacy and plan for expansion of the system, work as Toronto’s tree advocate to get more than 100,000 planted per year, and stewardship of Exhibition Place.

“To me, there’s really one choice in terms of the direction I’d like to see the city go, and I think many people would like to see the city go, and that’s Joe Pantalone,” the NDP leader said.

Pantalone is the standard-bearer for Miller’s left-wing faction of council but, according to the most recent poll, is trailing far behind fellow councillor Rob Ford and former Ontario deputy premier George Smitherman.

In fact, the poll conducted Friday to Sunday for the National Post, Global Television and Newstalk 1010 put the deputy mayor at 9 per cent of decided voter support, behind Sarah Thomson, a former political unknown running a shoestring campaign out of her magazine’s office.

Ford was way out in front with 32 per cent support, followed by Smitherman at 21 per cent. Rocco Rossi was in last place, with 7 per cent. One quarter of the respondents were undecided.

“It’s a steady building process,” Layton said of Pantalone’s support. “We’re still in the very early days of the campaign.”

He declined to comment directly on Ford, who has vowed to slash city spending while improving customer service. Layton would only say this election offers Torontonians a “stark contrast.”

And while many Liberal MPPs are doing what they can to help Smitherman beat Ford, Layton suggested it would be improper for him to mobilize his campaign machine behind any municipal candidate.

In accepting today’s endorsement, Pantalone called Layton an “iconic figure” and showed no hesitation in blasting Ford.

“Rob Ford has learned his politics on the political knees of Mike Harris,” Pantalone said, referring to the former Conservative premier.

“The road that Mike Harris has suggested, and Rob Ford now wants to bring to Toronto, really is the road to Detroit, the decay of our city, which is very destructive, where nobody wins.”

Pantalone added that Layton’s endorsement proves there is no truth to rumours of a rival “make-believe candidate” from the left stepping in to take on Ford.

The latest opinion poll, the National Post reported Wednesday, showed Miller would get “a whopping win” if he ran again, with about four in 10 Torontonians saying they prefer him to the field of five main candidates.

Of the 400 surveyed by Ipsos Reid, 39 per cent said they would choose Miller over the others, while 58 per cent said they would select another candidate even if Miller was in the race.

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If Miller ran again, the pollster said, he would steal support from Smitherman and, in some suburbs, Ford.

Miller, who surprised many last September by announcing he would not seek a third term, repeated to the Star on Wednesday that he has no intention of changing his mind and running for re-election.