Mario Racco


Mario G. Racco is a politician in Ontario, Canada currently serving as a Local and Regional Councillor in the City of Vaughan since November 15, 2022. He was an Liberal Party">Liberal Party of Canada">Liberal Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2003 to 2007 who represented the Greater Toronto Area riding of Thornhill.

Background

Racco has a diploma in Accounting and Finance from Ryerson Polytechnical Institute and York University. He also received a Bachelor of Business degree from York University in 1981. Racco practiced with the Chartered Accountant firms of Thorne Riddell and Dunwoody Chartered Accountants. On December 12, 2012, Racco became a member of the Law Society of Ontario.
In 2013, ‘Racco Parkway’ in Thornhill was named after him for his dedication and public service to the city.
He is married to Sandra Yeung Racco, a former city Councillor in the city of Vaughan for Ward 4. They have two children, Alexander and Katrina.

Politics

Racco was elected to the city council of Vaughan, Ontario in 1982, and retained this position until his election to the Ontario legislature.
He ran for the federal Liberal nomination in Markham—Whitchurch—Stouffville in 1993, but lost to Jag Bhaduria.
In the 2003 provincial election, Racco defeated Susan Kadis for the Liberal nomination in Thornhill and ran against Tina Molinari, an incumbent from the Progressive [Conservative Party of Ontario|Progressive Conservatives]. Denominational education was a leading issue in this campaign, with Molinari supporting the extension of tax credits for religious education and Racco opposing it; some members of Thornhill's Orthodox Jewish community supported Molinari because of this issue. Racco eventually won by 796 votes. On March 6, 2006, he was appointed as Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Labour.
Racco was a leading supporter of allowing municipalities to use red light camera technology for safety purposes. In 2004, he was the driving force behind the construction of a new statue of Pierre Trudeau in Vaughan.
During the provincial election of 2007, Racco was defeated by Progressive Conservative candidate Peter Shurman. In one of the most hotly contested races in the province, Shurman came out with 1,733 votes more than Racco.
In 2010, Racco ran for Mayor of Vaughan against incumbent Mayor Linda Jackson and former MP Maurizio Bevilacqua. Racco would lose coming in third, 35 votes behind incumbent Mayor Linda Jackson for second place.
In a 2013 by-election and the 2014 Ontario general election, Racco's wife, Sandra Yeung Racco ran for the Ontario Liberal Party in Thornhill but was defeated both times by Gila Martow.
Return to Politics
On October 24, 2022, Racco was elected as one of four Local and Regional Councillors in the City of Vaughan.
In 2024, Racco put forward a motion making December Christian Heritage Month in the City of Vaughan. The motion passed unanimously.

Electoral record

Four to be elected.
Council candidateVote%
Linda D. Jackson 28,39817.08
Mario Ferri 27,93716.80
Gino Rosati 27,45716.51
Mario G. Racco19,56411.77
Nick Pinto18,46711.11
Carrie Liddy12,5027.52
Mario Di Nardo12,2987.40
John Santoro10,1136.08
Mandy Rai9,5245.73