Ana Bailao and Adam Giambrone

Adam Giambrone: Familiarity helps on the campaign trail. Its a given, statistically, that incumbents from the federal to the municipal level fare better come voting time, according to The Star. Bailao has lived in the ward since she immigrated to Canada as a teen, entering the municipal arena as assistant to councillor Mario Silva in 1998. Her first run for office against Adam Giambrone was unsuccessful, but her 2010 effort landed her a seat with sway as a centrist on a deeply divided council. Her term was not without controversy Bailao pleaded guilty to drunk driving after a night out at the Thompson Hotel in October 2012 and Before Councillor Ana Bailao even knocks on a door, a resident stops her in her tracks to give her a hug. While canvassing, Bailao crouches down to pet the family dog, dotes on a chubby-cheeked toddler, puts an elderly woman at ease by chatting with her in Portuguese and charms another with her attempts at Italian. The 38-year-old Bailao faces 11 other candidates bidding to take her job in Davenport, Ward 18, which stretches from Dovercourt Rd. in the east to the train tracks west of Lansdowne Ave., and from just north of Dupont, tapering off south of Queen St. W. on Sudbury St. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.