Mario Racco
Mario Racco | |
|---|---|
| Vaughan Local and Regional Councillor | |
| Assumed office November 15, 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliamentfor Thornhill | |
| In officeOctober 2, 2003 – October 9, 2007 | |
| Preceded by | Tina Molinari |
| Succeeded by | Peter Shurman |
| Vaughan City Councillorfor Ward 4 Concord/Thornhill | |
| In officeDecember 1, 1982 – October 2, 2003 | |
| Preceded by | Ward established |
| Succeeded by | Sandra Yeung Racco |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1955-05-13) May 13, 1955 Siderno, Italy |
| Party | Independent (1982-2003, 2022-present) |
| Other politicalaffiliations | Liberal (2003-2022) |
| Spouse | Sandra Yeung Racco |
| Children | 2 |
| Residence | Thornhill, Ontario |
| Occupation | Bookkeeper |
Mario G. Racco (born May 13, 1955) is a politician in Ontario, Canada currently serving as a Local and Regional Councillor in the City of Vaughan since November 15, 2022. He was an Ontario Liberal Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2003 to 2007 who represented the Greater Toronto Areariding of Thornhill.
Background
Racco has a diploma in Accounting and Finance from Ryerson Polytechnical Institute (1977) and York University. He also received a Bachelor of Business degree from York University in 1981. Racco practiced with the Chartered Accountant firms of Thorne Riddell and Dunwoody Chartered Accountants. On December 12, 2012, Racco became a member of the Law Society of Ontario.
In 2013, ‘Racco Parkway’ in Thornhill was named after him for his dedication and public service to the city.[1]
He is married to Sandra Yeung Racco, a former city Councillor in the city of Vaughan for Ward 4 (formerly held by her husband for 6 terms). They have two children, Alexander and Katrina.
Politics
Racco was elected to the city council of Vaughan, Ontario in 1982, and retained this position until his election to the Ontario legislature.
He ran for the federal Liberal nomination in Markham—Whitchurch—Stouffville in 1993, but lost to Jag Bhaduria.[2]
In the 2003 provincial election, Racco defeated Susan Kadis for the Liberal nomination in Thornhill and ran against Tina Molinari, an incumbent from the Progressive Conservatives. Denominational education was a leading issue in this campaign, with Molinari supporting the extension of tax credits for religious education and Racco opposing it; some members of Thornhill's Orthodox Jewish community supported Molinari because of this issue. Racco eventually won by 796 votes.[3] On March 6, 2006, he was appointed as Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Labour.[4]
Racco was a leading supporter of allowing municipalities to use red light camera technology for safety purposes. In 2004, he was the driving force behind the construction of a new statue of Pierre Trudeau in Vaughan.[5]
During the provincial election of 2007, Racco was defeated by Progressive Conservative candidate Peter Shurman. In one of the most hotly contested races in the province, Shurman came out with 1,733 votes more than Racco.[6]
In 2010, Racco ran for Mayor of Vaughan against incumbent Mayor Linda Jackson and former MP Maurizio Bevilacqua. Racco would lose coming in third, 35 votes behind incumbent Mayor Linda Jackson for second place (0.1%). [7]
In a 2013 by-election and the 2014 Ontario general election, Racco's wife, Sandra Yeung Racco ran for the Ontario Liberal Party in Thornhill but was defeated both times by Gila Martow.
Return to Politics
On October 24, 2022, Racco was elected as one of four Local and Regional Councillors in the City of Vaughan.
In 2024, Racco put forward a motion making December Christian Heritage Month in the City of Vaughan. The motion passed unanimously.
Electoral record
Four to be elected.
| Council candidate | Vote | % |
|---|---|---|
| Linda D. Jackson (X) | 28,398 | 17.08 |
| Mario Ferri (X) | 27,937 | 16.80 |
| Gino Rosati (X) | 27,457 | 16.51 |
| Mario G. Racco | 19,564 | 11.77 |
| Nick Pinto | 18,467 | 11.11 |
| Carrie Liddy | 12,502 | 7.52 |
| Mario Di Nardo | 12,298 | 7.40 |
| John Santoro | 10,113 | 6.08 |
| Mandy Rai | 9,524 | 5.73 |
| 2003 Ontario general election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Liberal | Mario Racco | 21,419 | 46.90 | -0.46 | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Tina Molinari | 20,623 | 45.16 | -3.05 | ||||
| New Democratic | Laurie Orrett | 2,616 | 5.73 | +2.19 | ||||
| Green | Bridget Haworth | 705 | 1.54 | +0.65 | ||||
| Freedom | Lindsay G. King | 304 | 0.67 | |||||
| Total valid votes | 45,667 | 100.00 | ||||||
References
- ^"Street names: Racco Parkway in Vaughan". Toronto Star. 12 April 2013.
- ^Boyle, Theresa (July 8, 1993). "Candidate has tough job, opponents say". Toronto Star. p. NY5.
- ^"Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate". Elections Ontario. October 2, 2003. Archived from the original on August 8, 2014. Retrieved 2014-03-02.
- ^"Premier McGuinty appoints new parliamentary assistants". Ottawa: Canada NewsWire. March 6, 2006. p. 1.
- ^"Pierre Elliott Trudeau remembered during tree planting ceremony in Thornhill". Trees Ontario Foundation. October 18, 2006.
- ^"Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate"(PDF). Elections Ontario. October 10, 2007. p. 15 (xxiv). Archived from the original(PDF) on October 7, 2009. Retrieved 2014-03-02.
- ^"2010 York Region municipal elections", Wikipedia, 2025-09-28, retrieved 2025-12-12
External links
