Mayors as national comeback routes

When a national party is bruised by bad local results, popular regional mayors can be framed as immediate rescue candidates — leveraging local executive records and cross‑party appeal to mount leadership bids. That path requires by‑election engineering (finding a seat), factional buy‑in, and a narrative that separates the mayor from 'toxic' national brand baggage. — If mayors become repeat fallback options for faltering parties, party renewal will shift from national institutions to subnational executive politics, altering candidate pipelines and electoral strategy.