Winnipeg Mayoral Election 2018
 

Since the Mayoral election will start heating up in the next month or so it would be good to discuss the campaigns and the candidates running in the election.

Poll should probably include all of the candidates

Don't like any...

And I never thought I'd say this, but the regressive natural stance of some candidates is nudging me towards Bowman. Although I can't stand is dopey, empty smile.

Yeah, that would have been a good idea, I didn't initially because I figure it's more of a two horse race so far and didn't have a list of all the candidates in front of me. I'll Try and do another after this one closes for the lead up to the election. Also it will give me more time to completely figure out how to make changes and add a new poll, if possible.

I think you're right, I thought Jenny had a great opportunity to be a better option in her first interview on CJOB where she talked about bringing in stakeholders to help develop plans and policies but the more I listen to her the more I feel she is a regressive suburbanist. Too bad because I feel she would have been a stronger leader then Bowman.

I haven't heard anything good from any of the candidates. So much so I don't even know their names. If the only thing you can say is "rabble rabble rabble, close P & M" I stop listening pretty quick.

Looks like it'll be dopey Bowman for another 5 years.

I'm pretty disappointed nobody else has started their campaign except for Jenny. We're 2 months out and not a peep from anyone else.

As Mayor, does bowman have to wait a certain amount of time before he starts campaigning? I heard he was having trouble fundraising.

Not true Umar Hayat has been campaigning for weeks, real winner.

A friend of mine said he went to a fundraising dinner for Jenny. He told me Garth Steek is running under her banner. I don't know if any other candidates for council are as well. Hard to believe that populism has spread throughout the world and is now a force in municipal politics! :P

Jenny sounded like Donald Trump today....She is going to buy half a billion dollars in new buses and the Federal and Provincial Governments will pay for it. She has zero vision. She would have been better off just running against Bowman and literally not saying a thing.

I dislike what both those candidates are pushing.

The Winnipeg civic term is 4 years.

If not the feds Mexico will pay for it.

The choices are so great they make me not want to excercise my right to vote at all!

:(

I was hoping for a more progressive alternative to Bowman but if the other choice if Jenny Motkaluk, it's a very easy decision.

The fact that she's considered a legitimate challenger is embarrassing. Especially since it's because of Portage and Main. Her positions are not unlike those of a fringe big city candidate railing about big brother on his podcast.

I honestly think Don Woodstock has a better chance than Jenny. It's early, and Winnipeggers generally don't pay attention to anything in summer. She's just the only one that's been campaigning hard so far.

Considering how loud Jenny has been so far, I think the fact she's only gained about 50 twitter followers speaks volumes. Even very Team Closed people, and WFP commenters, have all realized she's full of sh*t and doesn't have any real plans for anything.

Is Jenny also going to build a wall between Transcona and the rest of Winnipeg and make Transconians pay for it?

Jenny Motkaluk has a surprising amount of money behind her. A lot of people that were previously Bowman supporters. If she stuck with populist stuff she'd have a good chance to win. Most of her policy announcements are nonsensical to anyone who understands how government works (example, buy more buses when the problem is funding the system day-to-day, paying and retaining drivers).

What I don't understand and haven't really been able to get anyone to fully explain to me, is why several prominent Winnipeggers decided to support her as the face of the "pro-development" side. Agree or disagree with her ideology, I don't believe she's a viable candidate. She doesn't inspire confidence in an ability to lead a city the size of Winnipeg. I can just envision a debate being a stream of 10 second talking points. Hard to believe that segment of our city does not have a better candidate to take on Bowman. For instance, someone like Browaty would make for a very tight election. I suppose it is tough for him to give up the steady councillor income all the while waiting to take a shot again at a MP job in Ottawa.

I see Bowman taking 55% of the vote, Motkaluk taking 25-30%, the rest picking up a couple percent each.

Winnipeg political culture is very very conservative (in temperament, not ideology), which means it takes either reckless incompetence or a long time (multiple terms) before voters reach for the 'throw the bums out' button. This is very good for Bowman. The only people who actively dislike him are the increasingly aging, thinning, and cantankerous ranks of CJOB listeners, and old cabal of developers who hate development fees. While the latter group has deep pockets, keep in mind they threw themselves behind Gord Steeves' mayoral campaign last time around.

Bowman's two main critics on Council, who've both enjoyed a very high profile city-wide, were smart enough to see this.

I would be surprised if Motkaluk garners more than 20% of the vote.

The Council races will be interesting to watch (especially in Fort Rouge, where a former SSP forumer is running).

P+M is inconsequential in comparison to some of the other city issues. Infrastructure and crime are always going to be the hot button topics. Bowman's funding for police services could well be his undoing given all the media that's surfacing around our jump in violent crime rates. Mayoral candidates are sure to attack him for that. Aside from fixing the existing infrastructure for the entrances to Winnipeg square, P+M is hardly on my radar. I don't like Bowman, but I'm not entirely convinced there is someone competent to replace him either.