Premature ejection: Giorgio Mammoliti is out of the mayoral race. Who’s next?
It’s official: Giorgio Mammoliti is out of the race for mayor of Toronto. After struggling for months to get outside of the margin of error of 0 per cent, Mammoliti’s campaign continued to falter and was probably doomed once Rob Ford declared his candidacy, sucking all the air out of the contest (at least on the right). The Star is already speculating that Mammoliti’s departure will help Ford, but given his anemic polls it’s going to be hard to see a Mammoliti bump in Ford’s numbers. And at least for the moment, Mammo is not endorsing anyone.
Now that Mammoliti’s gone, we can’t help but wonder: who will drop out next? Some baseless speculation:
Sarah Thomson With numbers almost as immobile as Mammoliti’s, Thomson is the obvious next bet to suffer a premature ejection from the race. The only question is who the lady will endorse, if anyone. Having started the train rolling on the 2010 crazy-subway-expansion-plan-mania, she may stick to her guns and endorse one of the other two subway lovers—Rossi or Ford? DROP OUT ODDS: 5:1
Joe Pantalone The lone representative of the status quo on the slate of candidates this year, Pantalone has mostly failed to light a fire with his “like David Miller, but shorter” campaign. Whether he’d endorse anyone after leaving the race is an open question. He’s expected to leave politics entirely after this race. DROP OUT ODDS: 15:1
Rocco Rossi It’s a sign of how destructive Hurricane Rob has been in the race that Rossi—once the presumed champion of the anti-George Smitherman forces—has been laid low in the polls. With the race increasingly becoming a shouting match between Smitherman and Ford, there’s not a lot of room for Rossi. Rocco’s endorsement might actually mean something, unlike the other two, though it’s difficult to imagine him endorsing Smitherman after this much campaigning. But hey, this campaign has already had some pretty awkward moments—and Rob Ford can’t be in all of them. DROP OUT ODDS: 7:1
Rob Ford Etobicoke’s pride is proving rather resilient, gaining momentum through what appears to be bald anti-Millerism. To drop out when he’s neck-in-neck with Smitherman, he’d be a fool. Of course, if were to stay in once John Tory enters the fray, he’d really be a fool. DROP OUT ODDS: 10,000:1
Gerorge Smitherman Yeah, right. DROP OUT ODDS: 1,000,000:1
• Mammoliti drops out of mayoralty race
• Rob Ford stands to gain as Giorgio Mammoliti withdraws [Toronto Star]
• Mammoliti out of mayor’s race [Toronto Sun]
• Mayoral race will thin out: Pantalone [Toronto Sun]
Images: Pantalone, Mammoliti, Ford, toronto.ca; Rossi, Rocco Rossi; Smitherman, OldTownGuy; Thomson, Joey Schwartz.
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