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Rush frontman Geddy Lee has endorsed Brad Bradford in the Toronto mayoral race, while Blue Rodeo's Jim Cuddy backs incumbent Olivia Chow. An expert says endorsements carry more weight in municipal elections.
Rush frontman Geddy Lee has endorsed Brad Bradford in the Toronto mayoral race, throwing his support behind incumbent Olivia Chow's main opponent. Lee announced the endorsement last week in a series of social media posts.
He said Toronto has been changing and not for the better, adding that Bradford's energy and fresh ideas may be what the city needs to turn things around. Lee is not the first well-known Canadian musician to back a candidate for mayor. Earlier this month, Blue Rodeo frontman Jim Cuddy endorsed Olivia Chow. Cuddy appeared on stage to perform at her reelection campaign kickoff at the beginning of September.
Why Political Endorsements Matter
The impact of political endorsements on voters is not entirely clear, but one expert told CP24 they likely carry more weight in municipal elections than in provincial or federal campaigns. Zac Spicer is an associate professor at the School of Public Policy and Administration at York University. He spoke to CP24.com about how endorsements work. In political science we have a well-worn term that endorsements matter most when voters know the least, Spicer said.
In a low information environment, endorsements can help voters figure out who they should vote for. Municipal elections in Canada are the classic low information environment because there are no information shortcuts like party labels. Spicer noted this is why incumbency represents such a massive advantage in municipal politics. He added that while celebrity endorsements may help get people talking, endorsements from well-respected politicians, including former mayors, or community leaders may go further.
What really matters is what that person is transferring to you, Spicer said. A former mayor, premier, or prime minister has held public office and is aware of the challenges that people in the job face, he said. That would probably matter more than someone who is like a celebrity. Someone could say, well, what experience does this guy have.
Candidate Platforms and High-Profile Support
Premier Doug Ford stopped short of endorsing Chow during a news conference last month. He told reporters she was doing an incredible job and that he had a phenomenal relationship with her. He later told reporters he had no plans to formally endorse a candidate in the race. Endorsements also matter as they pertain to a politician's platform, Spicer said.
If you are making a central plank of your campaign tenants' rights, it would be helpful to have the main tenants' rights group saying this is something we can get behind. It would be endorsing a suite of ideas. If public safety is a focus, the police union could be a valuable endorsement. Spicer said endorsements from community groups that represent causes that are not big ballot box issues probably would not be as impactful.
He added that some endorsements can actually backfire. A candidate does not have the ability to decide who gets to endorse them, Spicer said. They get to decide how much they amplify it. If they do not want it, they just downplay it.
Uncertain Effects on Voter Choices
Spicer said it is often hard to know how much endorsements actually matter in an election campaign. There is some research involving experiments showing different endorsements and having people react live to them, he said, adding that sample sizes were small. There is also focus group work where fictional candidates were shown along with endorsements from the current mayor and then the current councillor. There is some research bearing out that it does have some psychological effect.
But how it impacts a race at the macro level is still unknown, Spicer said. It is tough to say that one endorsement moves X amount of vote per cent, he noted. We do not have anything to show that, but we have evidence showing it does make people create a greater affinity towards a certain candidate. Voters will head to the polls on Oct. 26. With files from The Canadian Press.
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CP24:Geddy Lee and Jim Cuddy have already backed candidates in Toronto’s mayoral race. Do endorsements matter?This story was compiled and edited by the HeadTopics newsroom and HT AI from the reports above.
Geddy Lee Brad Bradford Olivia Chow Toronto Mayoral Election Political Endorsement Rush Blue Rodeo Jim Cuddy Zac Spicer Municipal Politics Incumbency Celebrity Endorsement Public Safety Tenants' Rights Toronto Mayoral Race Geddy Lee Endorsement Political Endorsements
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