Rob Ford Drops Out of Toronto's Mayoral Race

His brother Doug Ford is stepping in as the deadline to register arrives today.

Just before 1 p.m. today, it was announced that disgraced mayor and generally hilarious strange public figure Rob Ford would be dropping out of the Toronto mayoral race. Rob Ford was admitted to the hospital earlier this week with the diagnosis of a tumor. A family member has said Rob Ford is in the hospital dealing with "a surgery and chemotherapy and could be on his back for six to eight weeks."​

His brother, Doug Ford, is stepping in in Rob's place. Readers may know Doug Ford because once gave an interview with CNN about his brother not drinking at work while a bottle of vodka was visible right behind him. "Rob does not come into work drunk," the second Ford told the anchor. "He said he's tried illicit drugs under a drunken stupor. He's not doing drugs and not drinking and so is moving in the right direction in my opinion."

Mike Ford, Rob Ford's nephew, has also withdrawn. He was running for the role of city councillor. CBC News reported that Rob Ford would take Mike Ford's spot in that race, but that it would ultimately be up to the status Rob Ford's health. "This decision has not yet been made and there is a lot of pressure because the deadline is in a few hours. We are waiting to talk to the doctors and a decision has to be made," said Mike Ford. According to Mike, Rob "is in for the fight of his life."

Since that original statement was released, it's now been reported that Rob Ford's name does indeed appear on the online ballot as a candidate for city council.

The Ford family is cutting it very close with all this withdrawing and rejoining Toronto races. The deadline for submitting a name to a race is today at 2 p.m.

This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.