TTC chair Adam Giambrone won't step down from Toronto's mayoral race despite apologizing for what he calls an "inappropriate relationship" with a younger woman.
John Laschinger, chairman of Mr. Giambrone's fledgling mayoralty campaign, confirmed to The Globe and Mail that his candidate will stay in the race to replace Mayor David Miller, hours after details of his relationship with a 20-year-old university student were made public.
Mr. Giambrone apologized for the relationship with Kristen Lucas, who was 19 when she began dating the city councillor.
Mr. Giambrone's long-term partner is Sarah McQuarrie. They were together during the period in question. Text messages shown to the Toronto Star by Ms. Lucas allegedly suggest the affair was sexual - an allegation Mr. Giambrone denies. Ms. Lucas also claims Mr. Giambrone told her in a text message that Ms. McQuarrie would be kept in the picture for political purposes.
"This has been a painful day for Adam," Mr. Laschinger said. "He's embarrassed that his lapse in judgment reflects on Sarah, his family, his friends. He's apologized.
"In this day and age, the public expects their politicians to be frank and full and transparent with them. And I think Adam's done that, as painful as it was. We've received a number of messages of support and sympathy for Adam. And you know, we're proud of him and grateful for the expressions of support and we're continuing to get on with the job of planning the campaign."
Mr. Laschinger said Mr. Giambrone has no intention of backing out of the mayoral race. He said Mr. Giambrone and Ms. McQuarrie are staying together, that she supports him, and that the candidate won't be speaking publicly today.
Mr. Laschinger would not provide The Globe with a copy of the apology. Instead, he referred to the Toronto Star report, which he said accurately reported Mr. Giambrone's position.
The TTC chair told the newspaper his relationship with Ms. Lucas "consisted of text messages and conversations in public places only. I met her mother, having dropped her off at home ... Realizing the mistake this relationship was I tried to end it some months ago and finally broke off all contact."
Ms. Lucas told the paper that on several occasions, they had sex late at night on a couch in Mr. Giambrone's City Hall office.
Mr. Laschinger also referred to an e-mail Ms. Lucas had sent Mr. Giambrone "which we considered to be threatening," although he wouldn't elaborate.
The 32-year-old councillor worked diligently to appeal to young voters on the left. He kicked off his campaign last week at Revival, a few days after posting a now-infamous YouTube video in which he performed push-ups, jumping jacks and a bad Travis Bickle impression before declaring: "I'm Adam Giambrone and I'm ready."
Mr. Giambrone, an avid Twitterer and Facebook user, was silent Tuesday morning.
The TTC chair's domestic status was the subject of much speculation in the lead-up to his campaign launch. In late December, Toronto weekly NOW magazine erroneously reported that Mr. Giambrone was gay, to which he responded on his Facebook page: "Amused but not entirely surprised to learn in NOW Magazine that I'm supposedly gay."
"So as not to mislead anyone, I should correct the record: I'm not, in fact, gay. Sarah, my partner, has taken the news in stride (and) with good humour ..."
A few days later, a Toronto Sun photographer was invited to join Mr. Giambrone and Ms. McQuarrie at an Ethiopian restaurant, where the couple was photographed sampling dishes. A guitarist serenades them in the background. The caption referred to Ms. McQuarrie as the councillor's girlfriend.
Reaction on Mr. Giambrone's Facebook page on Tuesday was swift but mixed, with some offering support for the politician in the face of the current allegations while others suggesting the claims are bad news for his current bid for the mayor's post.
"You have all our support Adam," one wrote early Tuesday morning.
Early polling numbers suggested Mr. Giambrone was entering the mayoral race in second place, a good distance behind front-runner George Smitherman and slightly ahead of Rocco Rossi. It's unknown if recent TTC controversies - complaints about customer service, widely distributed photos and video of transit employees slacking off on the job - had made any dent in his popular support.