With no party affiliations, endorsements ‘carry a lot of weight’ in municipal elections

Thestar.com
October 22, 2018
Samantha Beattie

In a city council race with 10 new candidates and no official party affiliations, Felicia Samuel found it a challenge to differentiate herself.

But then endorsements trickled in and the game changed, said the first-time council candidate for Scarborough North, where no incumbent is running.

Since mid-September, Samuel has received support from the Toronto and York Region Labour Council, local MPPs, media editorial boards and grassroots organizations. In that time her campaign has also gained momentum with a surge of volunteers and donations, she said.

“I don’t know if you can link it to endorsements, or if the election is coming close to the end, but they do carry a lot of weight at the door,” said Samuel, a French teacher and executive at the union Elementary Teachers of Toronto. “And when there’s so many people in the race endorsements help me stand out.”

The Toronto and York Region Labour Council is a central body composed of hundreds of unions. It advocates on issues that matter to working people, which matches Samuel’s “core beliefs,” she said.

“I want to support others, lift them up and say I want for others what I want for myself,” she said. “In Scarborough there’s frustration that it’s consistently been neglected. And I can help make that change.”

Endorsements are a feature of all elections, but are particularly important in municipal ones, where there’s no political parties, lower voter engagement, less media coverage and crowded races with a slew of similar candidates, experts say.

Add in the new 25-ward system in Toronto where experienced incumbents are running against one another, endorsements are more important than ever in providing voters a “short cut,” said professor Renan Levine who teaches politics at University of Toronto Scarborough.

“Seeing someone they know say ‘this is the best person’ might help resolve difficult choices. They now don’t necessarily need to read through all the (literature) of all the candidates,” Levine said.

Endorsements signal to voters where a candidate stands on issues and political leanings and that the candidate is legitimate and reputable, and has a chance of winning, said Kim Wright, who oversees municipal public affairs at Hill+Knowlton Strategies.

“Do endorsements win you an election? No. But they do provide a lot of momentum and name recognition,” Wright said.

There have been endorsements are aplenty this election.

Mayoral candidate John Tory’s campaign announced Thursday he had received 130 endorsements from business and community leaders and past and present Liberal and Conservative politicians. Hours later, his main contender, Jennifer Keesmaat, announced she had the support of four female NDP MPPs to add to her growing list that includes labour organizations and unions, and progressive council incumbents.

These strategies are an element of branding, said Erin Tolley, a political science professor at the University of Toronto Mississauga.

“Tory is saying ‘look at the business leaders who’ve supported me,’ trying to create contrast with someone like Jennifer Keesmaat who people might assume doesn’t have as much support from that community,” Tolley said.

Tory has endorsed two councils candidates, including Joe Mihevc who is running against fellow progressive incumbent Josh Matlow for Toronto—St. Paul’s. Matlow has been a vocal opponent of the Scarborough subway, which Tory supports.

WARD WATCH

Ward 23 Scarborough North

BOUNDARIES

Steeles Ave. E. to the north, Rouge River to the east; Hwy. 401 to the south and Midland Ave. to the west.

DEMOGRAPHICS

There are 98,800 people with an average age of 41. The average household is 3.3 people with a median household income is $66,513. The percentage of visible minorities is 91 per cent.

CANDIDATES

Ashwani Bhardwaj; Maggie Chi; James Chow; Dameon Halstead; Anthony Internicola; Sheraz Khan; Cynthia Lai; Mahboob Mian; Neethan Saba, Felicia Samuel; Sandeep Srivastava.

OTHER REPRESENTATIVES

MPP Raymond Cho (PC) and MP Shaun Chen (Liberal).

Tory also endorsed Brad Bradford, former city planner, running in the Beaches—East York ward over rival candidate and former NDP MP Matthew Kellway.

It’s unclear if Tory’s endorsements will sway enough voters to make a difference.

There’s not a lot of research on the impact of endorsements on Canadian political elections, but studies have been done on the effect of Oprah Winfrey throwing her support behind Barack Obama in the 2007 Democratic primary race, Tolley said. Winfrey’s endorsement made Obama appear more credible and successfully attracted voters.

The Toronto and York Region Labour Council endorsed a council candidate for each ward, including Samuel, and Keesmaat for mayor. With that support can come union member volunteers and personal donations.

The labour council endorsed incumbent Paula Fletcher running in Toronto-Danforth over her equally labour-friendly rival incumbent Mary Fragadakis. Fletcher is married to the president of the labour council, John Cartwright.

“I wished they had stayed out of it but what can you do?” said Fragadakis, who’d received the labour council endorsement after the election initially got underway and she was running in a different ward than Fletcher under a 47-ward system.

While endorsements from such organizations are “very nice,” the ones that matter most to Fletcher are “neighbour to neighbour,” she said, pointing to the dozens from residents and activists on her campaign website.

“Those are the ones that really matter, when you see community leaders saying ‘I endorse Paula’ and why. That’s the momentum.”