Rob Ford drops out of Toronto mayor’s race

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, who became a running joke in Washington for his brash comments and admitted crack use, announced on Friday that he is dropping his reelection bid.

He is instead running for a city council seat, and his brother, Doug Ford, is now running for mayor, the Toronto Star reports. 

{mosads}Ford rose to fame in the United States last fall, when a video surfaced of him smoking crack. Even after admitting to the drug use while “probably in one of my drunken stupors,” Ford held on for months without resigning, saying, “I have no reason to resign.”

He then spawned further viral content, including video of him running and knocking over a city councilor, as well as other incidents. Ford eventually went to rehab this spring, before returning to office. 

The Star reports that Ford was still polling in second place for the coming election, when he went to the hospital Wednesday with pain in his abdomen, revealing a mass that is now being tested for cancer.

Even at the height of the scandal in November, Ford’s approval rating was 42 percent.

The controversial mayor also waded into American politics, criticizing ObamaCare.

“I don’t believe in all this public-funded healthcare because we gotta pay for it,” he said on a sports talk radio show.