[5] The week-long strike attracted a small minority of students while classes continued and resulted in Kormos's temporary expulsion.

[6] Kormos continued the "populist" approach pioneered by Morningstar and Swart, and won a heated – and what the Toronto Star called, "[a] vote as dirty as mudwrestling" – election on November 3, 1988.

[8] Notably, he was expected to implement a public auto insurance system, one of the promises of the recent election campaign.

Somewhat inconsistently, he elicited controversy by appearing, fully clothed, as a "Sunshine Boy" model in the Toronto Sun tabloid.

For the remainder of Rae's term in office, Kormos acted as an unofficial "left opposition" within the NDP caucus, together with Morrow and, until his resignation, Anglican priest Dennis Drainville.

In 1993, this group and former cabinet minister Karen Haslam were the only NDP MPPs to vote against the Rae government's Social Contract legislation.

[14][15] In 1996, Kormos was charged with assaulting a security guard at the Family Support Services office in North York, Ontario.

[16] However, when the case came to trial, the judge dismissed the charges writing that there was only "some incidental contact by Mr. Kormos in order to divert Mr. Subedar's attention away from [a] cameraman's efforts to film the offices.

"[17][18] He was widely expected to contest the leadership in 2009, following Hampton's retirement, but instead supported the successful candidacy of Andrea Horwath.

[28] Kormos' memorial, held in several rooms of a funeral home, attracted hundreds of attendees, including Ontario Liberal premier Kathleen Wynne and Conservative senator Bob Runciman.

[29][failed verification] Kormos represented socialist economic values with a populist, working-class presentation and genuine passion.

He was notable for showing up in the provincial legislature in open-neck shirt and cowboy boots, which he stated were made locally under fair working conditions.