In the 1978 election reform candidate John Sewell had won against two more conservative candidates. In 1980 election the right united around Art Eggleton, and he narrowly defeated Sewell. Eggleton carried eight of the city's eleven wards, dominating in the west end, and prevailing in North Toronto and the east end by narrower margins. While Sewell increased his vote in every ward, he only carried three wards in the heart of the city: midtown's ward 5, the downtown core and ward 7, which he had previously represented as an alderman. ;Results
City council
City council saw a handful of major upsets and was considered to have been moved to the right by the election as in addition to losing the mayoralty reformers lost their majority on council. The most notable upset was in the downtown Ward 6. Incumbent Allan Sparrow had stepped aside to allow George Hislop to run, in the belief that the large gay community in the ward deserved a representative on council. Hislop was one of the leading gay rights activists in the city, and his campaign was vigorously opposed by figures such as evangelist Ken Campbell. In a surprise upset Hislop lost to little known local dentist Gordon Chong. Elsewhere the left won important victories. Tom Wardle Jr., who had been involved in several controversies including an assault conviction, was defeated by former councillor Dorothy Thomas. After four failed attempts Joe Pantalone won a seat on council by capturing the one vacated by Eggleton. Top two from each ward elected to Toronto City Council. Top one from each ward also wins a seat on Metro Toronto council. ;Ward 1 ;Ward 2 ;Ward 3 ;Ward 4 ;Ward 5 ;Ward 6 ;Ward 7 ;Ward 8 ;Ward 9 ;Ward 10 ;Ward 11 Results are taken from the November 11, 1980 Toronto Star and might not exactly match final tallies.
Alan Redway won his third term in office as mayor. All the incumbent councillors were re-elected. The only newcomer to council was Mike Wyatt in ward two. † denotes incumbent from previous council
Cary Fox was an insurance agent, who called for a crackdown on vandalism and accused Howard Moscoe of seeking the media spotlight too often.
Gus Cusimano was a perennial candidate for municipal office in North York. He sought election to the NorthYork City Council in the 1974, 1976, 1978 and 1980 elections, losing each time. Cusimano was eighteen years old during his first campaign. He is an insurance agent, and accused Moscoe of seeking the media spotlight too often in the 1980. A 1987 newspaper article identifies him as president of City-Wide Insurance Ltd., Willowdale. As of 2006, he is president of Petek Insurance.
Scarborough
In Scarborough, Gus Harris retained his role as Mayor Scarborough. All Board of Control members were re-elected except Frank Faubert. All incumbent aldermen were returned to office. Faubert was returned to office in a by-election as alderman for Ward 5 when Alan Robinson was elected to provincial office in the 1981 Ontario election.
In the borough of York, Gayle Christie was re-elected for a second term as Mayor defeating Alan Tonks by a wide margin. The five aldermen who ran again were re-elected. Tony Mandarano and James Trimbee were the only new members of York Council.
