Yesterday was a sad day for the nation’s bloggers. After a long, fruitful run of stories involving binge drinking parties, DWI, crack smoking and gaffes which provided fodder for late night shows and web editors alike, the Ford family will exit the offices of the Toronto mayor. Rob Ford’s brother Doug has lost his last minute bid to replace his ailing sibling.

Doug Ford, the almost equally colorful brother of blustery, crack-smoking Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, lost his bid to succeed his brother in the city’s top job Monday night — but the scandal-ridden mayor was elected to the City Council.

Rob Ford bowed out of the race after being diagnosed with a rare and aggressive cancer, and he tapped Doug Ford, who was his campaign manager, to run in his place. Conservative John Tory won the election, however, with about 40 percent of the vote to Ford’s 34 percent.

Tory took 42% of the vote to Doug Ford’s 34%. Tory is a Progressive Conservative, at least as defined in the Great White North. Also of interest is the side story of Olivia Chow, who may wind up being the Martha Coakley of Canada. Until the news of Rob Ford’s cancer diagnosis, Chow was expected to be the primary contender to be the next mayor. But in the end, she finished a distant third to both Tory and the replacement Ford. She’s spent some time bashing Tory as being in the mold of Rob Ford, but to no avail.

Olivia Chow argues that a vote for John Tory is a vote for a leader of the same political stripe that has run Toronto for the past four years.

“If you want to replace one conservative mayor with another conservative, vote John Tory,” she said Tuesday, when speaking with reporters outside the Ontario legislature.

“But if you want someone that will see a real change of direction, a real investment in people, I am your candidate for mayor.”

So now, as Aaron Goldstein said, Politics in Toronto is bound to become far more boring and this will be a good thing. And to be honest, it probably will be a good thing for Toronto. But not for bloggers, talk show hosts and comedians. I wish Rob Ford all the best in his battle with the abdominal tumor which is described as being quite serious. May he have a full and speedy recovery. And who knows… a return to the Mayor’s office?