Tomorrow is election day in the United States. "Off-year" elections aren't usually big new stories nationally with this year's main exception being the Virginia gubernatorial race between Democrat and former Governor Terry McAuliffe and Republican challenger Glenn Youngkin. Won by ten points by President Biden a year ago, if the Dems manage to lose Virginia tomorrow, shockwaves will rattle through Washington as the mid-term elections in a year's time could be disastrous for the party which currently holds the House, the Senate (just barely) and the White House.
Citizens in several major American cities will elect mayors tomorrow and the race I'll be watching is for the mayoralty of the 90th largest city in the United States: Buffalo, New York. If we could see an election ballot in the Buffalo mayoralty race, it would carry the name of only one candidate: India Walton. The Republicans have not held the top job in Buffalo since Chester Kowal left office at the end of 1965 and the GOP did not even bother to nominate a candidate this time around. Incumbent mayor Byron Brown, seeking a fifth term since he was first elected in 2005, managed to lose the Democratic Primary to Ms. Walter and then failed in a court challenge to create his own party (the Buffalo Party) which would have allowed his name to appear on the ballot. He is now seeking re-election on a "write in" basis, using the campaign slogan "Write Down Byron Brown".
Turnout at the Primary in June was very low and the result was close but Walton won it fair and square and the Buffalo mayoralty race has now taken on a national flavour as she has earned the endorsements of Democratic Party heavyweights like New York Senator Chuck Schumer and New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Brown, the city's first black mayor, has marshalled the support of the Buffalo business community (including many Republicans) and has branded Walton as a socialist who would defund the police and bring chaos to what remains one of America's most segregated cities. Recent polling gives Brown a 17 point lead over Walton but he will need his supporters to first turn out tomorrow and then remember to "write in" his name on their ballots. To my knowledge, throughout the campaign, India Walton has not proclaimed her support for the Buffalo Bills and I hope this does not cost her. Her story, the subject of a recent long-form piece in the New Yorker, is quite compelling and, if I were a voter in tomorrow's Buffalo election, I would find it hard not to cast my vote her way. Plus, with hers as the only name on the ballot, I'd be more inclined to write in the name Josh Allen than I would Byron Brown. If his name were on the ballot, Allen would win in a landslide.
I guess I wasn't surprised to see that Terry and Kim Pegula did not invite India Walton to join them in the owner's box yesterday at Highmark Stadium. Could be that they knew she would have difficulty getting to Orchard Park on public transit. What she missed was hardly an NFL classic but her hometown team managed to make the plays they needed to make in the second half to pull away from the Dolphins who, at 1-7, are clearly in the hunt for the first overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft. The Bills defence looked fearsome in the second half as Tua Tagovailoa was overwhelmed at times and hardly looks like the franchise quarterback the Dolphins thought he was when they drafted him while leaving Justin Herbert on the board. Cole Beasley returned to form yesterday with 10 receptions for 110 yards.
Yesterday marked the first of three consecutive games against the league's lesser-lights with two road games coming up: at Jacksonville then at the Meadowlands against the Jets who earned their second win yesterday. The Bills, if they are still legitimate Superbowl contenders (and I think they are), will be heavily favoured in all three of these games. Favoured by a spread of 14 points yesterday, they struggled in the first half but won by 15. They are early 10.5 point favourites against the Jaguars in north Florida next Sunday. They can not afford to stumble in any of these games as they chase the Titans, who won again yesterday, for the coveted home-field advantage in the playoffs and a first round bye.
No comments:
Post a Comment