Rob Ford doesn’t kick children in the face, but the mayor of Winnipeg does

Last night, Winnipeggers went to the polls, with the choice of electing Judy Wasylycia-Leis, who left her seat as an NDP MP to run, or re-electing Sam Katz for a third term as mayor. The race had initially been tight, but Katz pulled ahead in the past few weeks, and last night he amassed a substantial lead of more than 20,000 votes. This, despite being the victim of an attack ad so hilariously mean that it made it to the top of American political blogs like Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire. Although the clip in question only made it to YouTube (it was never broadcast), it’s been viewed almost half a million times, much more than any of the famous videos of Toronto’s mayor-elect.

We’re sure that Katz wishes he hadn’t done that, and certainly the people of Winnipeg seem to have forgiven him. But this at least points to a bright side for Torontonians who are still smarting over Rob Ford’s mayoral win. Sure, there were those bizarre and since-debunked allegations about Ford’s aggressive football coaching, but Winnipeg actually has the mayor-on-young-athlete violence on video. Advantage: Toronto.

• Katz racks up decisive victory [Winnipeg Free Press]
• Best Negative Ad Ever? [Political Wire]
• Best Negative Political Attack Ad Of All Time? [Dangerous Minds]