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Mayoral Electograph: Ford In The House
The Mayoral Electograph—appearing occasionally on Torontoist—combines poll data, statistical analysis, whimsy, and personal bias to assess the fortunes of key mayoral candidates in an easy-to-read USA Today–style chart.
So…Rob Ford for mayor. Cyclists and OCAPpers wail and gnash teeth, the sky darkens, the earth opens and spews magma a thousand feet in the air, the dead rise rotten and ghastly from their noisome sepulchres and feast on the sweet flesh of the living. Or, the the path to the mayor’s office makes a slight jog to the right, and the city returns to its politically indifferent torpor. Oh yeah, and Transit City is toast.
Torontoist tells you what it all means.
Rob Ford
Electograph Score: 3/10
Rob Ford gets off to a decent start with an existing constituency and a strong brand. However, as he himself has observed, opposition and leadership are two different animals. If Ford really wants to be mayor, he’s going to have to prove that he can engage the rest of council productively, and not just hector them for abuse of taxpayer-funded office supplies.That task isn’t going to be made any easier by the fact that one of his early campaign commitments is to eliminate half of their jobs—presumably the “progressive” half.
Giorgio Mammoliti
Electograph Score: 0.25/10 (-0.25)
Really, Mammoliti would have been at 0 but that just seemed unkind. Nonetheless, with Ford poised to snatch up the angry wing-nut vote, the odds of a Mammoliti victory have lengthened further. Even indie bands who probably love rocking the vote don’t want anything to do with him. Best bet is that he bails and goes back to running for City Council well before October.
Joe Pantalone
Electograph Score: 3/10 (+0.5)
Joey Pants gets an Electograph bump in the new electoral paradigm. As the Miller-surrogate of choice, his campaign will benefit from panicked lefties coalescing around the pleasant little New Democrat. In addition, he’s secured the support of veteran campaigner John Laschinger, who helped put David Miller in the spaceship on Queen Street. Besides, he’s cute—we just want to bring him home and let the cat play with him. On the other hand, the provincial transit-slashing initiative puts a big chunk of the Miller legacy at risk, and Pantalone may end up paying the price.
Rocco Rossi
Electograph Score: 2/10 (-0.5)
Like Rob Ford, Rocco Rossi tags himself as “fiscally conservative and socially liberal.” Unlike Rob Ford, Rossi doesn’t have a long-time fan base, and he could lose the default right-wing vote to the controversial but well-known councillor. Key for Rossi will be to raise his public profile and not hang his hat on killing bike lanes on Jarvis Street.
George Smitherman
Electograph Score: 9/10 (+1)
George Smitherman still leads, but there’s many a slip t’wixt cup and lip and he’ll have to maintain that momentum until October. As the self-proclaimed centrist, he’ll be looking to win the voters who’ve had enough of the Miller agenda but aren’t quite ready to flog the city’s assets on Kijiji and sell off corporate naming rights to manhole covers. However, Smitherman could suffer from his previous association with the Transit City–murdering McGuinty government. All other considerations aside, it sure would be fun to see him and Ford throw down.
Sarah Thomson
Electograph Score: 1/10 (unchanged)
“Business candidate” Thomson loses out here, with the right-wing vote sure to be splintered by Ford’s arrival on the scene. However, her recent bold (if widely lambasted) proposal to build more subways, funded in part by road tolls, shows she has vision and cojones and shouldn’t be underestimated.
Candidates’ illustrations by Brian McLachlan/Torontoist. Electograph design by Marc Lostracco/Torontoist.