In an end-of-day election surprise Friday, longtime Davenport Councillor Cesar Palacio withdrew from the electoral race for Toronto city council without a word.

That left the other incumbent running for the new seat, Ana Bailao, running against just three other candidates.

It’s not clear when Palacio withdrew his candidacy.

“I’m not sure how much my heart can take,” Bailao said by phone after speaking briefly to Palacio, a conversation she said she preferred to keep private.

“It’s been a rollercoaster of emotions.”

The two have been heavily campaigning against one another since signing up in May. In a 47-ward election, the original process prepared by the city, Bailao and Palacio were the only incumbents to match up.

The 25-ward race, which both Bailao and Palacio signed up for, created incumbent match-ups across the city.

Now Bailao is one of 12 incumbents not running against a colleague.

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There are 11 head-to-heads after nominations closed. Two races — Beaches-East York and Scarborough North — are for open seats.

The decision to withdraw ends a more than three-decade career at city hall for Palacio. The Ecuadorian-born councillor has represented the northern Ward 17 (Davenport) since 2000, when he was appointed to the position. He was elected in 2003. Before that he was a political staffer.

He has held a key position under both former mayor Rob Ford and Mayor John Tory as chair of the licensing and standards committee. This put him in the inner circle of both administrations as an executive committee member.

Tory was expected to back Bailao in this election, and recently named her one of three ceremonial deputy mayors. Bailao also sits on the executive committee and serves as Tory’s affordable housing advocate, a file the mayor has pushed at city hall and on the campaign trail.

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When Premier Doug Ford introduced legislation to cut the size of council to 25 wards, Palacio was one of the councillors who continuously voted against council taking legal action or opposing the bills. Ford read his name in the legislature applauding him for supporting his government’s legislation.

Bailao said Friday she’ll push ahead and continue knocking on doors as planned.

“I’ve been preparing for this for one year, for this race,” she said, adding she doesn’t know anything about Palacio’s future plans.

The other candidates running in the new Ward 9 Davenport are: Mark Balack, Nahum Mann and Troy Young.

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