The mayoral election is not the only important race in town. Under Toronto’s system of government, each of the 44 city councillors has the same one vote the mayor does.

Council incumbents win re-election the vast majority of the time, and some of the 2014 races are boring. Many are not. Here is a non-exhaustive list of 15 races worth paying attention to — seven rematches, seven open seats, and a challenge in Davenport.

Most of these races involve more candidates than we had room to note here. The full list can be found online at app.toronto.ca/vote/.

Ward 2, Etobicoke North: Rob Ford represented this ward for 10 years, Doug Ford for the past four. They have entrusted the dynasty to nephew Michael Ford, a college student in his early 20s who has rejected all interview requests. He faces polished business professional Andray Domise, who has become a darling of Ford opponents around the city, plus community developerLuke LaRocque, Toronto Community Housing board member Munira Abukar, and realtor Benn Adeoba.

Ward 3, Etobicoke Centre: Another Etobicoke test of name recognition: Stephen Holyday, son of retired conservative powerhouse Doug Holyday, registered last week. Among the seven other candidates are financial services professional Annette Hutcheon, software support manager Greg Comeau, technical support analyst Peter Fenech, and Roberto Alvarez, a business consultant with a PhD.

Ward 4, Etobicoke Centre: Veteran Gloria Lindsay Luby, a moderate conservative who opposed much of Ford’s agenda, beat former school board chair John Campbell by only 309 votes in 2010. Campbell is running again; Lindsay Luby, retiring, has endorsed Niels Christensen, a realtor who has run the vocal Humber Valley Village Residents Association.

Ward 5, Etobicoke-Lakeshore: Another open seat. Real estate executive Justin Di Ciano, who nearly took out now-MPP Peter Milczyn in 2010, is back. Di Ciano faces former Milczyn assistant Kinga Surma, information technology consultant Guy Bowie, and information technology analyst Raymond Desilets.

Ward 7, York West: Giorgio Mammoliti, council’s most controversial non-Ford, has represented the ward for 20 years. But his margin of victory shrank to 14points in 2010, down from 32 points in 2006, and he is mired in scandal. Nick Di Nizio, his top opponent last time, is trying once more, and former Toronto Youth Cabinet leader Keegan Henry-Mathieu is making a first run.

Ward 9, York Centre: This is the race that never ends. Veteran progressive Maria Augimeri, chair of the TTC, beat Ford-backed insurance businessman Gus Cusimano by 89 votes in 2010. Cusimano fought the result in court, won, then lost on appeal. He is now running a second time. Conservative and public affairs consultant Anthony Fernando could eat into Cusimano’s vote.

Ward 10, York Centre: Council centrist James Pasternak won the wild 12-candidate race in 2010 — with a mere 19 per cent of the vote. Conservative journalist and Russian-language broadcasting executive Igor Toutchinski, who got 16 per cent, is one of four people trying to unseat Pasternak this year.

Ward 12, York South-Weston: Veteran conservative Frank Di Giorgio, Ford’s budget chief, was the weakest victorious incumbent in 2010: he prevailed with 27 per cent of the vote because his three leading opponents split 60 per cent among them. Nick Dominelli, who came second with 24 per cent, is back. He is joined by Lekan Olawoye, who has taken a leave from his job as executive director of the non-profit For Youth Initiative.

Ward 16, Eglinton-Lawrence: The midtown seat Karen Stintz is vacating. Former Stintz assistant J.P. Boutros has broken with her on transit, coming out in favour of light rail rather than a subway in Scarborough. Businesswoman Christin Carmichael Greb has name recognition as the daughter of Conservative Don Valley West MP John Carmichael. And there are several others with credentials, including community planner Terry Mills, lawyers Dyanoosh Youssefi and Adam Tanel, and industrial security professional Michael Coll.

Ward 17, Davenport: Right-leaning Cesar Palacio beat left-leaning Alejandra Bravo by 791 votes in 2003, 281votes in 2006. After a one-election hiatus and a stint at the Maytree Foundation, Bravo is giving it a third go.

Ward 18, Davenport: Ana Bailao walked a centrist line in her first term, working with Ford on housing while voting against him on other issues. She also pleaded guilty to drunk driving. She is being tested by Alex Mazer, a lawyer and former policy director for Liberal finance minister Dwight Duncan.

Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina: They’re going to need a large church basement: 28 people, many of them credible, have already registered to run for the seat held until this year by Adam Vaughan, the prominent progressive who is now a Liberal MP. The city’s wildest race includes Joe Cressy, the NDP organizer Vaughan beat in a June byelection; Sarah Thomson, the former mayoral candidate; and Anshul Kapoor, who led the advocacy group No Jets T.O.

Ward 26, Don Valley West: John Parker, an articulate conservative who soothes the council chamber as deputy speaker, is again facing Jon Burnside, the business owner and former cop he beat 31 per cent to 29 per cent in 2010.

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Ward 30, Toronto-Danforth: The ward geared up for a tight rematch between left-leaning incumbent Paula Fletcher and the right-leaning challenger she beat by only 259 votes in 2010, former Citytv entertainment reporter Liz West. Then the race got complicated: former broadcaster andJane’s Walk chief Jane Farrow entered the fray in May, raising vote-splitting anxiety among progressives.

Ward 44, Scarborough East: Absent for much of the term because of health problems, quiet centrist Ron Moeser might not run again, and he almost lost last time. Thirteen people have signed up to try to replace him.