CTVNEWS

Last day of campaigning in Layton's old Toronto riding

CTVNews.ca Staff Published Sunday, March 18, 2012 10:15AM EDT

From left, NDP MPs Peggy Nash, Olivia Chow, and candidates Claire Prashaw, Hanif Shaikh, Craig Scott and Justin Duncan listen to speakers during the NDP nomination meeting for the Toronto-Danforth, the former seat of the late Jack Layton, on Monday, January 9, 2012 on Toronto. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Matthew Sherwood

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Candidates vying to represent the riding left vacant when former NDP leader Jack Layton died have one last day of campaigning before voters head to the polls.

Voters in Layton's Toronto-Danforth riding head to the ballot boxes to choose their new Member of Parliament Monday.

Law professor Craig Scott, who specializes in human rights law, is carrying the New Democratic Party's banner in the race.

The vote has been characterized as a "two horse" contest by Liberal candidate Grant Gordon, an advertising executive who views Scott as his main competition.

Andrew Keyes, a 51-year-old communications specialist, is running for the Conservative Party. Brazilian-born clean-energy advocate Adriana Mugnatto-Hamu is hoping to win the Green Party's second seat in the House of Commons.

Layton wrested the riding away from Liberal MP Dennis Mills in 2004 and held it until his death last August. Interim Liberal Leader Bob Rae also held the seat from 1979 until 1982, when he was a member of the New Democratic Party.

In the last 50 years, there have been 25 byelections called due to the death of an MP. Of those races, the incumbent party won 17, according to figures from The Canadian Press.