Some departing comments from Vito Sgro

Defeated mayoral candidate believes he didn’t do too bad against Eisenberger

Consider this an exit interview with mayoral candidate Vito Sgro, touching on some of the high, low and “disgusting” points of his unsuccessful anti-LRT campaign to unseat Fred Eisenberger.

A veteran political organizer, this was the unknown Sgro’s first foray as a candidate. And even though the seasoned Eisenberger amply defeated him 74,093 votes to 52,190, Sgro figures he didn’t do too badly all things considered.

The most outrageous thing he experienced on the campaign trail were “ridiculous” rumours he and LRT critic MPP Donna Skelly — who appeared on a couple of Sgro’s telephone town halls — were dating.

Sgro has no idea where the unfounded story originated (I heard it from an Eisenberger volunteer myself ) but he was “disgusted” by the attempt to demean and ascribe covert motives to his and Skelly’s policy rapport on LRT.

“And that comes from a group that’s supposed to be much more ‘progressive’ than that.”

Sgro notes he also took a severe pounding on social media, mainly Twitter. He had no problem with attacks on his LRT position. The more he was savaged, the more eyes came to his website to find out what he stood for.

But he was troubled by a small group of computer warriors who, he claims, published his home address and went after people working on his campaign, making fun of their physical appearance.

“They made some awful, awful comments.”

Perhaps surprisingly one of his lowest moments of the race was the day the Forum Research poll came out suggesting he and Eisenberger were in a dead heat. Sgro’s own polling suggested the same thing. But strategically he wanted the muted Eisenberger campaign and its supporters to remain “complacent.”

“When that poll came out, that motivated his base way more than it motivated mine.”

Sgro still believes more people oppose LRT than support it, but it’s a question of degree. And regardless of what opinion surveys find, “What you can never measure is who’s going to show up to vote.”

He says his “narrow path to victory” required a voter turnout of at least 45 per cent. It didn’t happen. The turnout was only 38.4 per cent.

He hadn’t analyzed the voting patterns from Monday’s election when we spoke, but, given the margin of victory, he won’t be surprised Eisenberger swept most of the inner city while he did well in the suburbs.

Though he raised sufficient money — roughly $200,000 — to mount a broad campaign, Sgro figures he was missing one crucial element: somebody with name recognition.

“If I had someone with a name running, this would have caught fire ... and I think the result would have been much different.”

Before throwing his hat in the ring, Sgro searched for somebody prominent who would run while he managed the campaign. He declines to mention names, but ended up focusing on one well-known person. When his choice declined, Sgro decided he had to fight for what he believed in himself.

A high point of the race was meeting thousands of Hamiltonians from every street corner and farm field of the city.

But Sgro, 54, says nothing he’s ever done behind the political scenes prepared him for the pressure of being the focus of a team effort. He jokes that by campaign’s end he wanted to throw something every time he heard the sound of his own voice. To make matters worse, he’s always hated having his photo taken.

“Every man who is my age thinks they’re George Clooney. I look at my picture and I say, ‘Omigod, I’m Shrek.’”

Though Sgro positioned the race as a referendum on LRT, Eisenberger who downplayed the issue, only embraced the description after winning. Sgro says he’s not going to argue the case because the people have spoken.

“But there were councillors who were adamantly against LRT and (Eisenberger’s) going to have to deal with them. I don’t think this is going to be a pleasant four years for him.”