Brian Bowman wins mayoral battle
Brian Bowman is Winnipeg's new mayor.
Winnipeg voters turned their backs on a career politician and chose an inexperienced outsider who promised them a better, prosperous future.
The lawyer who was endorsed by the city's business elite pulled off a come-from-behind victory Wednesday night, trouncing veteran New Democrat MP and MLA Judy Wasylycia-Leis.
On her second try and after a down-to-the-wire race, Wasylycia-Leis lost by an even larger margin than she did in 2010 to Sam Katz.
Wasylycia-Leis vote collapsed Wednesday night, and the NDP’s vaunted get-out-the-vote machine failed. It appears she lost much of her support to Robert-Falcon Ouellette.
"What’s next for me?" said Wasylycia-Leis on stage in the ballroom at Fort Garry Place. "I will continue to fight with every breath I’ve got to build a stronger city."
She also thanked supporters, saying she was humbled by their steadfast support.
"We didn’t make it, but we did make a difference," she said.
She praised Ouellette, and said she called to wish Bowman well.
"I said you deserve the votes you got. You ran a hard campaign, you ran a solid campaign," she said.
She pledged to work with him "to build a city that works."
Bowman has not yet entered the reception hall at the Inn At The Forks where his supporters are gathering.
When Bowman entered the race in early June, few people outside of media and the Chamber of Commerce crowd knew who he was: In December he had the support of only 11 per cent of voters, while Wasylycia-Leis was sitting pretty with 45 per cent and all the experts were pointing to her certain victory in October.
Winnipeggers went into this election campaign demanding change at city hall. Katz's last term as mayor was wracked with allegations of severe administrative mismanagement, cronyism and hints of improper dealings between the development community and city hall.
The past year also saw Winnipeg plagued with significant infrastructure issues: Thousands of homes and businesses across the city went without water when a frigid winter froze water lines; and, in the spring pot holes and water main breaks devastated city streets.
All the mayoral candidates promised they could restore integrity to city hall but they offered distinct alternatives to the infrastructure issues.
The top two vote-getters had offered voters starkly contrasting platforms: Wasylycia-Leis, the New Democrat, pitched a small "c" conservative campaign platform; but, Bowman dared Winnipeggers to dream about what their city could become and promised he would make that dream a reality.
On election day, Winnipeggers opted for the dream.
The 2014 mayoral campaign featured several strong candidates with distinct platforms. In addition to Bowman and Wasylycia-Leis there were former councilllor Gord Steeves, Coun. Paula Havixbeck and outsiders David Sanders, and Robert-Falcon Ouellette.
There was an anti-Judy/anti-NDP element to the campaign but with so many alternative candidates splitting that vote, it appeared Wasylycia-Leis would easily win.
Wasylycia-Leis was initially able to hold her core support, similar to what she received in her losing 2010 election bid.
She chose to challenge the anti-NDP bias with what she called her basic "meat and potatoes" platform, fixing city hall and fixing infrastructure with a modest cost and modest tax increase. She presented herself as a career politician with 30 years experience who knew her way around the corridors of power
Bowman, the conservative, was promising a dramatic overhaul that would propel the prairie city into the future, with only vague assurances he knew how to pay for it all. His plans included cuts to civic departments, building six bus transitway corridors, help for community centres and new downtown amenities.
Bowman, a red Tory who was once considered as a possible leader of the Manitoba PCs, presented his outsider status as an advantage, and portrayed Wasylycia-Leis as "more of the same old, same old," that had brought city hall to ruin.
Both Bowman and Wasylycia-Leis waged the campaign relying on efficient organizations. Hers was culled from the ranks of organized labour and the NDP; Bowman attracted dedicated, like-minded, enthusiastic individuals from the business community. His prominent supporters include the NHL Jets' Mark Chipman, chamber president Dave Angus, Winnipeg Art Gallery director Stephen Borys, and Obby Khan, the still-popular former Blue Bomber and restaurant operator.
Waslycia-Leis had appeared to learn from her wildly erratic, losing bid for mayor in 2010. This time out she made few modest promises but she was often inarticulate, had difficulty explaining the financing behind the simplest of promises, and refused to criticize the governing provincial NDP -- which some pundits and other candidates repeatedly used against her.
But for most of the campaign, Wasylycia-Leis' safe strategy appeared to be working: She commanded a comfortable lead in every poll until Monday.
The anti-Judy vote coalesced around Bowman but she was unable to grow her support.
Bowman worked his way up from that December underdog who only had the support of 11 per cent of decided voters. By the end of August, he climbed modestly into third place with 16 per cent; on Oct. 1, he passed Gord Steeves into second spot, with 23 per cent; and then, three days before voters cast their ballots, the last poll had Bowman edging past Wasylycia-Leis into first and he carried that lead to victory.
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