8:10 p.m.

Joe Pantalone is fading fast, trailing with just 6,351 votes

8:08 p.m.

Rob Ford is surging ahead of George Smitheman in race for Toronto’s next mayor: 31,233 to Smitherman’s 19,098

8:05 p.m.

Rob Ford bursts out of the blocks first in Toronto mayoral race. Leads George Smitherman by more than 1,500 votes in initial returns.. Joe Pantalone lags with 154.

8:01 p.m.

Polls have just closed and supporters at Smitherman's campaign begin to trickle in, many putting on purple shirts and pins.

A guitar player warms up with some blues licks on stage.

Still no George.

At Ford headquarters

At Ford's headquarters at the Toronto Congress Centre, the room is already buzzing with media, but the doors haven't officially opened. 

Eight big screens are set up around the room - four with live CP24 coverage. Other screens are projecting slideshows of Rob Ford on the campaign trail. There are hundreds of tables set up. Lounge music with a heavy bass is playing.

Minutes before the polls closed, Ford told CP24 he couldn't wait for it to be 8 p.m.to see the results of the vote. He says he was pleased with the campaign. His daughter sat on his knee and said: "I love you Daddy."

 

St. Clair streetcar a mistake, Pantalone says

 

Joe Pantalone, defender of David Miller’s transit plans, has wrapped up his campaign by buttonholing voters on St. Clair Ave. W., home of the light rail transit project. Rob Ford used the streetcar as an example of a project that was mismanaged -- finishing late and overbudget.

 Pantalone is no longer defending Miller, his former boss. He’s now saying the project delays caused too much inconvenience to area merchants.

 

“In my opinion, it was a mistake how it unfolded,” he said. “If I had to do it over again, I wouldn’t vote for it given the grief and aggravation. I learned from it.”

Smitherman gets ready to party

 

The lights outside the Guvernment nightclub, the location of George Smitherman's post-election party, are a bright Smitherman purple tonight.

So far, though, there are more media gathered here than supporters. A crew is turning the nightclub into an election night headquarters, decked out with a stocked bar, four televisions and a spotlight operator.

Their votes are cast

The three mayor candidates in Toronto have cast their ballots: Joe Pantalone voted in the advance polls last Saturday; George Smitherman got his choices in just when the polls opened this morning at 10. And Rob Ford voted around 1.30 this afternoon.

They have about three hours to wait until they know how everyone else voted.