Municipal Election Breakdown - Regina Mayoralty

For election day let's add one more post to the series. The result of the mayoralty race probably isn't in much doubt, but it's still worth taking a slightly closer look at what each of the candidates have to offer and what we can expect later today.

Jim Elliott - video profile

Until Elliott entered the race, it looked far too plausible that Fiacco might get acclaimed. Rather than letting that happen, Elliott has done an effective job at least calling Fiacco out on a few of his more problematic points.

But while it's great that Elliott has stepped up to ensure Fiacco doesn't get an entirely free pass, there's little indication that Elliott's previous electoral experience will position him to draw many voters out to the polls. Indeed, the 2006 Ward 6 council campaign in which Elliott came in a distant second behind Wade Murray saw by far the lowest turnout of any of the city's wards - meaning that there's little reason to expect Elliott to bring out many voters who weren't planning on voting anyway (and conversely plenty of potential support for Brenda Mercer to try to appeal to in that ward).

What will be interesting to see is the comparison between Elliott's result and that of Jim Holmes in 2006. On paper Holmes would seem to have been a stronger candidate, meaning that any significantly better result for Elliott would seem to either point to the stadium issue as galvanizing somewhat more opposition to Fiacco than anything that was presented three years ago, or reflect the media backlash against the CCFR's party concept.

Pat Fiacco - video profile

I've probably said all that needs to be said about Fiacco here. In fairness to Fiacco he at least pays lip service to a broad range of issues - but it's hard not to see that as more a matter of strategy than any personal commitment to any particular policy cause.

Linda White

In theory, White's last-minute entry may have had the potential to radically reshape the race. At the beginning of the race, there was plenty of opportunity for another candidate besides Elliott to become the main opposition to Fiacco by combining a strong stance on the issues with a compelling personal story. And White's poignant personal history combined with her unabashed self-description as a "social service recipient" seemed like a combination with the potential to at least make voters who don't often see the effects of poverty rethink some of their assumptions about it.

Instead, White's campaign seems to have had little public effect - and indeed she hasn't even taken advantage of the city's means of spreading her message about housing through a video statement and online profile. That leaves White as a one-issue candidate who's had less profile talking about her issue than Elliott - and seems likely to ensure that she'll finish a distant third.

Endorsement

The result may be a foregone conclusion, but it'll be for the best if the race is at least reasonably close to encourage a stronger challenger to Fiacco in 2012. With that in mind, the endorsement goes to Jim Elliott.