Article content continued

He won’t of course. He’ll be knocking on doors, pounding in signs and continuing the frantic near 24-7 tour of bake sales, ribbon cuttings and candidates’ meetings that have earned him a deep and loyal following across the city, if only to keep himself in shape and his army of volunteers engaged just in case he ever really needs them in some future campaign.

This is Watson’s eighth race for municipal or provincial politics. He has won every previous campaign by large margins, often because serious competition just stays away.

Even when he does face a serious opponent (he has taken on and defeated incumbents twice), Watson usually runs up big wins with huge majorities.

There’s still an opportunity for a serious opponent to enter this race, but it’s unlikely. Health issues have sidelined one possible contender (Paul Dewar) and the high cost of mounting a significant campaign combined with the lack of a burning issue is keeping another (former Ottawa police chief Vern White) on the sidelines.

There’s Diane Deans, of course. There’s always Diane Deans, who basks in the usual speculation that pops up during these campaigns that she will run.

She loves the attention – even encourages it — but doesn’t follow through. This year will be no different.

Frankly, the race could use a good female candidate. I think Barrhaven Coun. Jan Harder would mount the more formidable challenge.

Each passing day further reduces the prospect of a serious challenger to Watson due to new campaign finance rules that deny candidates big contributions from deep pocketed unions, builders, other corporations or even individuals, thus forcing a candidate to rely instead on small donations from many thousands of citizens. That’s a significant hurdle to clear when it would likely take half a million dollars to mount a serious challenge.