daily transit operations, improvements, plans and concerns. In the wake of a sex scandal (see 2010 mayoral campaign), fellow councilor Brian Ashton called for Giambrone to resign as chairman of the TTC, which had been beset by bad publicity. Ashton said "The TTC is under serious assault around issues of customer relations and performance. The union is now fragmented from the management. I think his moral authority has been totally debased and undermined," said Ashton. "I think mentally he's going to be distracted by both his mayoralty bid and this sex scandal. His ability to come to terms with the TTC issues is tremendously weakened." He did not step down, but also did not seek re-election and so his term as TTC chair ended in December, 2010. 2010 mayoral campaign Giambrone launched a campaign for Mayor of Toronto in the 2010 municipal election to succeed David Miller on February 1, 2010, ending it on February 10, 2010. Before Giambrone entered the race, two polls showed him in second place among declared mayoral candidates, though he also had a high unfavorability rating of 40 per cent. He remained a leading candidate until February 9, when the Toronto Star published an interview with undergraduate student Kristen Lucas, who revealed that she had a past sexual relationship with Giambrone, including acts in his city office. Giambrone apologized for an "inappropriate relationship" and admitted to intimate relationships with women other than his live-in partner, to whom he is now married. In the immediate wake of the revelations, Giambrone initially pledged to continue with his mayoral campaign, but announced his withdrawal the following day. Giambrone did not run for re-election to his council seat, and his executive assistant Kevin Beaulieu was defeated by Ana Bailão. Giambrone claimed French lessons as a city council expense, as he was Toronto's representative to the Francophone Association of Municipalities of Ontario and does interviews with francophone media. Scarborough—Guildwood provincial by-election On July 5, 2013, Giambrone resigned as co-chair of the candidate search committee and announced his candidacy for the Ontario New Democratic Party's nomination for the August 1, 2013 provincial by-election in Scarborough—Guildwood; he won the nomination on July 7 over community activist Amarjeet Chhabra, reportedly by a margin of 18 to 14. Giambrone's nomination was the subject of a threatened legal challenge by Chhabra who alleged that 12 of the 32 individuals who voted at the nomination meeting