Adil Shamji shook up the Liberal leadership race on Thursday after he dropped out to endorse Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie
“We are thrilled to have Adil support our campaign. He is a brilliant and dedicated MPP who has brought both his intellect and empathy to Queen’s Park and this leadership race," Crombie said in a statement.
"Adil and I agree that Doug Ford’s government has got to go in 2026. And we need every Liberal pulling in the same direction to make that happen," she added.
"It is a tremendous privilege to work with someone as committed to public service as Bonnie is, someone who possesses the unique talent of getting people excited and bringing them together behind a common vision," Shamji said in a statement.
"Bonnie has a level of experience and strength that inspires confidence in Ontarians," he added. "I am proud to stand with her, and I know that she will lead out party and province toward a better, brighter, and more prosperous future."
Shamji also thanked the other candidates — Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, Yasir Naqvi, and Ted Hsu — on his way out.
"Running with such experienced and qualified candidates was truly an honour ... and I am grateful for their ongoing contribution to the Ontario Liberal Party," he said.
The move comes as the candidates get ready for the third debate in Stratford on Sunday. It also gives Crombie a big boost two months before Liberal members vote on the new leader.
Earlier this month, some of the campaigns released their membership sign-up numbers — seen as a proxy for campaign strength.
Crombie’s camp said the longtime politician brought in 38,700 new members. Former Ontario attorney general Yasir Naqvi’s team signed up 31,000, while Shamji said he enlisted 12,000.
Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith said he brought in “tens of thousands” of new members while MPP Ted Hsu said “thousands.”
Combining Crombie's and Shamji's totals gives the Mississauga mayor around 50,000 members hypothetically tied to her cause.
At the time, the central party said there are at least 80,000 members eligible to vote — with around 30,000 signed up before the race started — for a rough total of 50,000 new members, meaning at least certain candidates' math doesn't add up.
The party and interim leader John Fraser said the 80,000 number was likely to go up.
“The reason is there's nothing that stops a person from going and signing up for (multiple) leadership candidates,” Fraser said. “So we have to pull out duplications.”
“It will become more clear. It's going to take a few weeks,” Fraser added. The increase will be in the thousands, he said, “not the tens of thousands.”
No matter the final tally, it’s still set to be the largest leadership race in party history.
The 2013 leadership race won by Kathleen Wynne had 44,00 members. In 2020, when Steven Del Duca won, membership dropped to 38,000.
Crombie has also been dominating fundraising — at least based on the information available from Elections Ontario’s database, which only captures donations over $200.
As of Sept. 12, Crombie has raised $850,253 from 479 unique contributors, good for an average donation of $1,775.
She’s also raised more than half of the over $1.6 million Elections Ontario tally that the race's contestants have raised to date from 34 per cent of the 1,411 contributors.
After testing the waters for a few months, Shamji entered the Liberals’ leadership race on July 4. From a few weeks before then until his exit on Thursday, he had rolled out policies on issues including health care, education, housing, and regarding party renewal and northern and rural Ontario.
Of the candidates running for Liberal leader, Shamji had the least political experience. He first ran for office in 2022, taking over Don Valley East — a longtime Liberal stronghold — from Michael Couteau.
Liberal members will vote using a weighted one-member-one-vote system for the first time in party history, meaning each riding is worth the same regardless of population.
-with files from Charlie Pinkerton
