City councillor and Toronto Transit Commission chairman Adam Giambrone has dropped out from Toronto's mayoral race, Wednesday.
This comes after Giambrone admitted he had intimate relations with numerous women.
Giambrone gave a statement and apologized at a news conference.
"There are weeks that change your life and this one has certainly changed mine.
This searing experience has taught me, I hope permanently, that a public career
of integrity cannot survive deceit in your private life." began Giambrone.
"I want to apologize as a councillor to my fellow councillors for the negative
attention that I have brought them and to this chamber. I want to apologize also
to the communities across this city and to the young people who believed in me.
It is my sincere hope that they can continue to believe in themselves and their
abilities to make positive change." said Giambrone.
However, Giambrone was unable to finish his prepared statement and left the podium after giving an apology to his partner of several years, Sarah McQuarrie.
"I deeply apologize to my partner Sarah. The pain she has endured for my
mistakes was deeply unfair to her. She has shown a lot of strength in all of
this."
Giambrone's spokesperson, Kevin Beaulieu, came out shortly afterward and said Giambrone would end his mayoral run but will stay on as chairman of the TTC.
"Councillor Giambrone's decision to leave the mayoralty race is regrettable. His voice and the vision he could have brought to this important campaign will be missed but his decision to focus on his private life and his current duties is understandable," Toronto Mayor David Miller, who was giving a key note speech at the FCM Sustainable cities conference in Ottawa, said in a written statement.
This week, a 20-year-old university student came forward saying she had been having an affair with 32-year-old Giambrone.
Giambrone then admitted to having "intimate relations" with women other than his partner.
The relationship and Giambrone's further admission of multiple affairs came to light in the Toronto Star. Click here to listen to The Star's exclusive interview with Giambrone.
Before Wednesday's statement, Giambrone's campaign chairman John Laschinger had said the campaign remained "full-steam ahead."