Businessman and conservative former councillor David Soknacki says he plans to run for Toronto mayor, further complicating the battle for voters seeking a gentler, right-leaning alternative to incumbent Rob Ford.

Soknacki is the first credible candidate to declare an intention to run against Ford, himself a conservative. The right could get crowded fast: conservative councillor Karen Stintz is quietly organizing, and former Progressive Conservative leader John Tory is contemplating a second bid.

Soknacki, founder and owner of a successful spice business, Ecom, hosted a pre-campaign gathering for strategists and political acquaintances on Sunday at his large Scarborough property near the waterfront.

“I told the group that I fully expect that I would be putting my name forward as a candidate for mayor in the new year,” he said in an interview Monday.

Soknacki, who served as David Miller’s first-term budget chief, would begin the race as a longshot: he retired from politics in 2006, and his rivals are far better known. The campaign, however, is a 10-month marathon, and Miller managed to rise from relative obscurity to win in 2003.

“I certainly see the huge challenge,” Soknacki said. “I don’t kid myself with the enormity of the challenge — but frankly, also, the opportunity.”

Candidates can register to run as early as Jan. 2, but some wait until months later. Soknacki said he plans to sign up quickly, probably “in the first half of January,” to begin spending money to boost his profile.

Soknacki’s personal wealth will give him an advantage over other little-known challengers. He said he expects to make a “significant” financial contribution, “particularly at the beginning,” but will also fundraise.

“He has deep enough pockets personally that he could probably shoulder a campaign in the short term until it took off in the long term,” said Councillor Adam Vaughan, who is more likely to run for council again than mayor.

Soknacki, first elected in 1994, became a columnist for Torstar-owned Metroland newspapers and the chair of Downsview Park after he left politics. He has assembled a core campaign team that includes Conservative organizers.

The Sunday gathering drew an eclectic crowd: Liberal and Tory operatives, former councillor and NDP candidate Adam Giambrone, and current councillors Paul Ainslie, a member of Ford’s executive, and Josh Matlow, a centrist who says he is “very impressed.”

“He’s a fiscal conservative who works well with progressives,” Matlow said.

Soknacki said he is still developing policy proposals. He sketched out a pitch that would appear to target voters who support Ford’s fiscal conservatism but dislike the mayor’s bulldozer style.

“Number one is a need for results: a need to achieve results by working with people as opposed to turning everything into a wedge issue, and a need to achieve results by respect and civility in public discourse — but at the same time recognizing that we need to make 50 cents do a dollar’s worth of work,” Soknacki said.

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Soknacki may be vulnerable to Ford criticism over his professed support for light rail transit and over his tenure as Miller’s fiscal steward. He argued that his budgets “have stood the test of time,” pointing to a near-flat net budget, strong credit rating, and an initiative to reduce business taxes.

“It’s a good solid base from which to approach the public, as far as I’m concerned,” he said.

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