In the City of Toronto, the most high-profile race was that for Mayor of Toronto in which incumbent June Rowlands was challenged by city councillor Barbara Hall, the first time a race for mayor had two female front-runners. Though the candidates were nominally independent, Rowlands was backed by the right-wing consisting of a coalition of right-wing Liberals and Progressive Conservatives (Rowlands was a member of the Liberal Party) while Hall was backed by New Democrats, left-wing Liberals, and Red Tories. Hall had been a member of the City NDP caucus on city council and had been an NDP candidate in the 1987 provincial election.