We’re fascinated by gambling — the odds, the handicapping, the uncertainty.

The Dallas Cowboys are a 6½-point favorite to beat the New England Patriots on Sunday afternoon. The Baltimore Orioles are +800 to win the World Series. I’m a heavy underdog — Vegas won’t accept any action on this one — against scooping the poop in the backyard.

Life is a day with the DraftKings app. But then there’s the Santa Fe mayoral race in a couple years, and I’ve decided to create my own betting line: I’m wagering — wagering big — that City Councilor Jamie Cassutt is going to run to run 200 Lincoln Ave.

If not in ’25, then sometime. Cassutt, 38, who represents District 4 in the south-central part of town, didn’t exactly confirm this last week in a couple of different conversations — but she didn’t exactly smack it down, either. That alone is great evidence when compared to what you’ll hear from most politicians two years from a big election. In similar situations, most wriggle their way out of it with the standard line: “I can’t answer that. I’m only concentrating on the race in front of me.”

And Cassutt has one on Nov. 7: She faces a challenge from political novice Joel Nava, a really nice man with no political experience and limited funding. You never say never: There’s always a chance Nava could pull off a massive upset, along the lines of the Lee Garcia shocker over Roman “Tiger” Abeyta in 2021.

But in a place that survives without rain, it’s hard to figure lightning would strike twice.

Smart money says Cassutt gets past Nava. If a ballot proposal to impose an excise tax on homes selling for more than $1 million passes, Cassutt’s mojo gets even better: She, along with outgoing City Councilor Renee Villarreal, co-sponsored the legislation.

Cassutt gives all the requisite qualifiers when asked about mayor. But she doesn’t flinch when asked about her future aspirations.

“I think there has been a lot of conversation around it,” she said of running for the office. “For me, it always comes back to, you know, if I were to take the leap, is it something that I think I could do successfully? Do I see issues with the city that I could do better? In some instances, yes. So I think it is something to consider given my desire to really have an impact. So it is something that I’m considering, and it really has been a lot of encouragement from other people.”

Couple things to note: You can be certain Cassutt, who grew up in Santa Fe, is one of many looking at the race. The man who has the job, Alan Webber, could run for a third go-round; the office has no term limits. The name of Cassutt’s fellow city councilor, Carol Romero-Wirth, also is tossed around.

For the record, here’s Romero-Wirth’s take on such speculation: “My current focus is on the needs of District 2 and our community as a whole. The mayoral election is 2½ years away. I’ll make a decision on running for reelection, running for mayor or running for another office in early 2025.”

There you go. But you can book it: There will be others, many others.

Cassutt’s rise to even the conversation stage is interesting, if only because she’s so forthright about her own résumé, goals, life. Armed with a master’s degree in public health from UCLA, she was a neophyte when she ran four years ago; since then, she’s continued to become more vocal, getting some things passed before deciding to take a swing for the

fences; the transfer tax that may create plenty of heat before the November election.

Away from City Hall, she’s also gone through a divorce during her first term, though she said she and her ex-husband remain close and co-parent their 5-year-old son — jokingly known in casual conversation and at the dais as “Tiny Human” — with ease.

Other than mother, her listed job right now is city councilor; a luxury she frankly noted she can afford because she has solid family backing, including a home.

“I look at that I think, OK, I have all these resources. I have this incredible safety net,” she said. “What does the city look for somebody like me? Or, you know, somebody who has a child like me; maybe my son’s counterpart who does not have all these resources. [Someone] who doesn’t have that safety net. So, that’s my job: to try to be that safety net for all the people who don’t have that familial assistance that I do.”

That, she added, helped lead her to the transfer tax proposal — one that isn’t exactly new but seems to have more traction this time around. If passed, it’s a helluva talking point. If it tanks … many remember the controversial push for the so-called sugar tax a few years ago that failed — and deflated the lofty political aspirations of then-Mayor Javier Gonzales.

“You know, this was easy in the sense that I feel that this is the right thing to do,” Cassutt said. “It doesn’t mean that I wasn’t, you know, totally nauseous the day before we announced the legislation.”

It might be wise to keep the Tums nearby. It comes in handy on election day and beyond. That’s when the Big Human issues are brought to bear.

Cassutt, who’s frank about her sensitivity to criticism, says she’s going to buck up for this one.

“If we are too afraid to take a risk or to push something that we believe in because we are worried that we will lose office, well, what’s the point of having office in the first place?” she asked.

Good question. Life, even for politicians, is about taking chances and taking stock. With or without DraftKings.

Phill Casaus is editor of The New Mexican.