Michael Ford emerged triumphant from Etobicoke North’s battle of the incumbents in the heart of “Ford Nation” on Monday night.

With 63 of 64 polls reporting, the nephew of Premier Doug Ford had 42.26 per cent of the vote, while his closest rival, longtime Ford-family ally and fellow councillor Vincent Crisanti, trailed with 34.35 per cent.

The mood was jubilant at Ford’s election night party, where a huge roar greeted the 24-year-old’s arrival to deliver his victory speech alongside Doug Ford, who thanked Etobicoke North voters for “putting their faith in Michael to represent them for another four years.”

The re-elected councillor paid tribute to his late uncle Rob Ford, who also served as an Etobicoke councillor.

“He’s not here with us ... but he taught me the importance of serving our community and without Rob, we would not be standing here tonight,” Ford said to huge applause.

Under Toronto’s 25-ward system, Etobicoke North brought together the former Wards 1 and 2, pitting incumbent councillors Crisanti and Ford against one another.

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Ford first got his political feet wet during the 2014 Toronto District School Board trustee race in Etobicoke North, when, at age of 20, he defeated two-term incumbent John Hastings by 2,138 votes.

He served as trustee for less than two years before launching a successful byelection run for the Ward 2 council seat left vacant by the death of Rob Ford. He beat 12 rivals to win with 69 per cent of the vote.

What Ford lacked in experience, he more than made up for in name recognition — especially in Ward 2, the heart of so-called “Ford Nation,” where a member of the Ford family has won five elections and a byelection held there over the last 18 years.

In the run-up to the 2018 election, Ford reaffirmed his commitment to continuing his family’s legacy of strong ties to the Etobicoke North community and “doorstep” service for its expanded constituency.

“My family and I were born here, we’ve been raised here, we own a business in this community, and we have served you for two decades at your doorstep,” he told an all-candidates’ meeting.

Crisanti was first elected to represent Ward 1 in 2010, when he beat three-term incumbent Suzan Hall with 40.7 per cent of the vote. He won the seat again in 2014 with 46.3 per cent.

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Crisanti was one of four deputy mayors under Mayor John Tory from 2014 until September 2017, when he was removed for publicly supporting mayoral hopeful Doug Ford at the annual Ford Fest gathering.

Other Ward 1 candidates included Peter D’Gama, Naiima Farah, Michelle Garcia, Christopher Noor, Shirish Patel, Gurinder Patri, and Carol Royer.

Read more: For up-to-the-minute results, visit the Star’s municipal election page.

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