Here are some quick takes from Monday’s results in London’s municipal election.
Incumbents still tough to beat
Though four new councillors were elected, only Ben Durham was able to unseat an incumbent, by beating Peter Cuddy in Ward 3. In the 10 races where incumbents won, they tended to win by a wide margin.
Consider how dominant incumbent winners were in these races:
Ward 12: Elizabeth Peloza won 79 per cent of the vote.
Ward 11: Skylar Franke won 76 per cent of the vote.
Ward 13: David Ferreira won 70 per cent of the vote.
Ward 8: Steve Lehman won 68 per cent of the vote.
Ward 2: Shawn Lewis won 65 per cent of the vote.
Winning incumbents managed to prevail in closer races in Wards 1, 6 and 9, where Anna Hopkins held off a strong challenge from Luke Thomas (she had 40 per cent of the vote, he had 33).
But consider this; In2022 Ferreira won by34 votes. This time, hismarginof victorywas a massive3,573 votes. p >The takeaway? Beatingincumbents isstill tough.
Theground gamereally matters p >So howdid Ben Durhambeatanincumbentasafirst-time candidate? Hespeaksabouthisapproach on Tuesday. p >First , hestartedearly , door-knockingacrossthe wardin Mayand takingonlyoneweekoffoverthesummer. Heusedsoftwarecalled Door Line , whichtracksinteractionswithvotersandbuilds adatabase thathighlightscrucialinformation such asundecided votersandkeyissuesbyarea. p >It’s nottheonlyvotingsoftwareoutthere(other candidatesused Nation Builder), but Durhamsaidthedata itgeneratedwashelpful. p >Another tip, Durhamsaid , wasthatateachdoorknockhe beganbyaskingvoterswhatissues matteredtothem, instead ofstartingwithahardsellabouthisbackground andplatform. Hesaiditleadtomoremeaningfuldiscussionsandmade visitsmorememorableforvoters. p >“Thereisnoonesinglethingthatwonthis,”said Durhamon London Morning.”Fromthebeginning Ihadtimeandtheincumbentmaybedidn’t, that’s theonlyadvantage Ihad. Ineededtheextratimetoknockonasmanydoorsaspossibleinstrategiclocations.” p >Durham told thatcampaigningaboardacargoe-bikealsohaditsadvantages. Itallowedhimtoavoidparkingheadachesanddistributelawnsignswilemovingnimblilyneighbourhoods. P>
Josh Morganwasreelectedas London’smayor, butmayorsina handfulof Ontario towns andcitieswereoustedby voters.(Jessica Singer/CBC) P>Josh Morgan was reelected as London’s mayor, but plentyofother Ontario mayorsare refreshing theirresumes today.
Voters optedto oust mayorsin citieslike Sarnia, where Carrie Mc Eachran beatincumbent Mike Bradley, wouldheldthejob for- and thisisnot atypo -38years.
Other Ontario mayorsgettingtheboot Mondayincluded Drew Dilkensafter12 yearsin Windsor, andrea Horwathin Hamilton, Carolyn Parrishin Mississaugaand Rob Burtonin Oakville.
“Ispentmostofthenightuntil3a. m. talkingwithcolleagueswho’vebeendefeated, people whoinsomecases have servedtheircommunitiesfordecades,”said Morgan.
“Itwasanelectionwherepeoplesaid,’We’reunhappyandwe’regoingtodo somethingaboutit,'”hesaid.
Morgansaidmanyofthedefeatedmayorsworkedwithmeatthe Associationof Municipalities(AMO) inlobbyingseniorgovernmentsformoneytohelpfundthehomelessresponse.
“It’snotjust Londoners whoarefrustrated withthewaythingsaregoing, it’s Ontarians,”hesaid.”Andthatmeansournewcolleagues across thisprovince needtohaveaseriousconversationwithourprovincial andfederalpartnerstosay,’Thisiswhatpeoplearesayingontheground, andyouguys aregoingtopolls next.'” P >
“Voter turnout still low, but moving intothe right direction” P >
“London’s voterturnout on Monday waslowat31percent, butit’s asix-point improvement overtheturnoutin2022.(Kendra Seguin/CBC)”
“In2022 London’s voterturnout wasapaltry25.5 percent. On Monday ,31percentof Londonerseligible tovot actually castaballot.”
That’sstilllow, speciallyconsidering Toronto’s turnoutwas46percent.Becausetherewasacontestedmayorrace, somethingthatdidn’t really happenin2022, surelyhelped. Morgansaidhehopestheincreasecansomethingtobuildon.
Iknow turnout still wasn’tgreat but itwent up,” said Morgan on London Morning.”Sothatmeanspeoplewereengaged andturnedthatintoparticipatinginour democracy ingreater numbers, so that’samove intotherightdirection.”
The tattle isn’t always true
The talk around city hall circles throughout the campaign was that Hadleigh Mc Alister was headed for defeat in Ward1.
Even some whowanted him to win predicted he wouldn’tbeat Roger Caranci, a former councillor with electionsignsthat vowedtocleanup Dundas.></Par A
The endresult? Mc Alister showedthat pre-election talk is justtalk. Ward2 voters opted to keep Mc Alister, capturing58percentofthevoteto Caranci’s42percent.></Para
“I’moverthemoon,”Mc Alister told on Monday.”Itwas alongsixmonthsbut I’mreally happytoseetheresultstonight.”
Source link
