At that point, David Bowers, who has served as mayor four times, had taken the lead with a height of 223 cm. As of yesterday, Bowers’ female plant, Granddaddy Purple, is still in the lead – and seems to be extending it. It is now 2.64 m tall, or 2.45 m. (It was 40 cm tall when planted in the ground.)

The Irene 11 variety, named after Vice Mayor Joe Cobb, is 95 inches tall, or 7 feet 11 inches. And Stephanie Moon Reynolds (another Granddaddy Purple plant) is 88 inches tall, or 7 feet 4 inches. All three produce sticky flower buds.

Additionally, as of July 14, none of the three mayoral candidates had announced their support for the presidential election. Now they have – right here in today’s column. Whether that plays a role in the race for mayor (or the White House) remains to be seen.

Bowers, a local attorney who was previously elected mayor three times as a Democrat and once as an independent, is now running his first campaign as a Republican.

He supports the Republican ticket of former President Donald Trump and Ohio Senator JD Vance.

“I stated in September 2023 that I would not support anyone (Biden) as president of our nation and leader of the free world who will be 86 years old at the end of his second term,” Bowers said in an email. “Democrats should have considered then how reckless this decision could be.”

President Joe Biden threw a huge wrench into the national race three weeks ago when he suddenly withdrew his candidacy after a disastrous debate performance in June. Biden then threw his support behind 59-year-old Vice President Kamala Harris.

But the unprecedented switch to a younger Democrat has not convinced Bowers. He still supports Trump, who is 78 years old. If Trump wins, he will be 82 at the end of his second term – the same age as Biden is now.

“I would consider it dishonorable to seek and receive the Republican nomination for mayor, but then turn around and not support other GOP candidates,” Bowers wrote in an email. “That is why I support Trump/Vance.”

Trump has not yet acknowledged his 7 million vote loss to Biden in 2020. The ex-president claims Biden stole the election but has not provided any solid evidence. At the end of 2020, Trump also lost 60 court cases challenging the election.

Worse still, Trump allegedly tried to overturn the election results by inviting a mob to Washington DC on January 6, 2021.

They violently stormed the U.S. Capitol and rioted for hours, causing millions of dollars in damage and delaying Congress’s certification of the 2020 electoral votes. At least four people died that day or in the days immediately following.

How could an American lawyer support such a thing?

“But David, Trump has undermined democracy,” I told Bowers on the phone on Wednesday.

“I don’t think so at all,” Bowers replied. He also doubted that the president’s support would have much of an impact on the local mayoral election.

“My focus is on the issues of Roanoke, the people of Roanoke and the progress of Roanoke,” Bowers said. “If Kamala Harris is elected president in November, I simply want to serve the people of Roanoke as mayor. If Donald Trump is elected, I simply want to serve the people of Roanoke as mayor.”

Bowers asked if I had asked his opponents in the mayoral race the presidential election question. The answer was yes. I spoke to both of them on Wednesday.

Stephanie Moon Reynolds worked as Roanoke City Council Secretary for decades before running a successful independent campaign for City Council in 2020.

“I support Kamala Harris,” she told me. “I may be bipartisan, but I look at both sides because I’m a moderate, I’m a moderate conservative.”

“I’m uncomfortable with Trump,” she added. “I thought when Trump lost four years ago, he would move on with his life, just like any other former president.”

“I don’t know if Trump is really serious about being president,” Moon Reynolds said. “I don’t think he was serious last time. He doesn’t take it seriously, he treats it like a game. He just throws things out there that have no relevance… He just says what he wants to say and (insists) it’s true whether it is or not.”

She said she is also focusing more on local issues because “the mayor of Roanoke is not going to be able to call the president” to get anything done.

Cobb, a pastor, chaplain and Roanoke City Council member since 2018, said he fully supports Harris-Walz. He said he always chooses presidential candidates based on their conduct.

“Donald Trump’s conduct is some of the most horrific I’ve ever seen from an elected leader,” Cobb said. “The harm he has done to people, and particularly to women, is abhorrent.”

In contrast, Cobb said, Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, have brought “a breath of fresh air” to the presidential campaign. He pointed to “the energy, enthusiasm and experience they bring – she was attorney general, then U.S. senator, then vice president. He is governor of the Midwest.”

“They know what it means to govern,” Cobb added. “I hope that under (Harris’) leadership, we can transform the Supreme Court to be more accountable, more ethical, and to uphold the fundamental freedoms and rights that people have relied on for decades.”

So now you know who Roanoke’s mayoral candidates will be supporting in November’s presidential election.

Will this make a difference in your race for mayor? Who do you think will win his seat? Email [email protected] and let me know.