I have updated the list of nominated Alberta election candidates to include the following three Progressive Conservative nominees:
Edmonton-Centre: Young lawyer Akash Khokhar defeated Nicole Martel to win the PC nomination. In the next election, Mr. Khokhar will face Liberal MLA Laurie Blakeman, who has represented the constituency since 1997.
Edmonton-Gold Bar: Past Mayoral candidate David Dorward defeated past City Council candidate Lori Jeffrey-Heany to become the PC candidate. This is Mr. Dorward’s second attempt at becoming MLA in Gold Bar. In 2008, he placed second to Liberal MLA Hugh MacDonald, who will be retiring at the next election.
Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville: Strathcona County Councillor Jacquie Fenske defeated Tofield Mayor Nabil Chehayeb, former Fort Saskatchewan Mayor Jim Sheasgreen, Gene Hrabec, and Adam Kozakiewicz to become the PC candidate. Former Premier Ed Stelmach has represented this region since 1993.
UPCOMING NOMINATION MEETINGS
The PCs will be holding a packed week of nomination meetings that will see Alberta’s 40 year governing party nearly fill its entire slate of 87 candidates. Two final nomination meetings are scheduled to be held in February to replace MLAs who recently announced their retirements.
I will be away from my blog for the next week, so to earn forgiveness for my absence, here is a look at the PC nomination meetings that will be happening in the final week of January. I will provide updates when I return.
Calgary-Glenmore (January 26, 2012): Lawyer Byron Nelson and Linda Johnson are seeking the PC nomination.
Lethbridge-East (January 26, 2012): Former Liberal MLA Bridget Pastoor is facing Lethbridge County Reeve Lorne Hickey for the PC nomination. Ms. Pastoor has represented the constituency since 2004 and cross the floor to join the PC caucus in late 2011. Lethbridge Alderman Jeff Carlson and Lethbridge Senior Citizens Origanization executive director Rob Miyashiro announced this week that they will seek the Liberal nomination (date not scheduled). The constituency has been represented by Liberal MLAs since 1993.
Edmonton-Riverview (January 27, 2012): Edmonton police office Steve Young and businessman Tom Choucair are seeking the PC nomination. The constituency has been represented by Liberal MLA Kevin Taft, who is not seeking re-election.
Edmonton-Strathcona (January 27, 2012): No candidate stepped forward to claim the nomination, though the date is still listed on the PC Party website.
Airdrie (January 28, 2012): Former Airdrie Mayor Linda Bruce, Councillor Kelly Hegg, and Michael Crawford are seeking the PC nomination. The constituency is represented by MLA Rob Anderson, who left the PC Party in 2010 to join the Wildrose Alliance.
Banff-Cochrane (January 28, 2012): The PC nomination contest has drawn a crowd to replace retiring MLA Janis Tarchuk. Real Estate broker Jon Bjorgum, Canmore Mayor Ron Casey, Rob Seeley, businessman John Fitzsimmons and Cochrane Mayor Truper McBride are seeking the nomination.
Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock (January 28, 2012): The retirement of Speaker Ken Kowalski, who has represented this region since 1979, has attracted five candidates including Morinville Mayor Lloyd Bertschi, Westlock Town Councillor David Truckey, ministerial executive assistant Tim Schultz, and Westlock County Councillors Maureen Kubinec and Bert Seatter.
Calgary-Currie (January 28, 2012): Candidates seeking the PC nomination include school principal Christine Cusanelli long-time PC Party organizer Dale Galbraith, lawyer Brian Holtby, Stefan Spargo, and former MLA Jon Lord.
Calgary-Hawkwood (January 28, 2012): This newly created constituency has attracted the most candidates of any nomination contest of the 2012 election. Kiron Banik, Farouk Adatia, Sumita Anand, Jason Luan, Adam Idris, Jerry Mandryk, Chris Roberts, Kumar Sharma, Doug Stevens, and Darryl Wernham are contesting the PC nomination.
Calgary-Varsity (January 28, 2012): Former Nexen Vice-President Donna Kennedy-Glans is facing Ph.D. business student Rhiannon MacDonnell. The constituency has been represented by Liberal MLA Harry Chase since 2004. Mr. Chase is retiring at the next election.
Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo (January 28, 2012): Four candidates have lined up to earn the right to face PC-turned-Wildrose MLA Guy Boutiler as the PC candidate. Candidates include Councillor Mike Allen, teacher Andrew Highfield, Nick Sanders, and School Trustee Jeff Thompson.
Grande Prairie-Smoky (January 28, 2012): The retirement of former cabinet minister Mel Knight has sparked a three-way nomination contest that has drawn Grande Prairie County Reeve Everett McDonald, Tab Pollock, and Tom Burton.
Highwood (January 28, 2012): Associate publisher at the Okotoks Western Wheel John Barlow, John Hankins, and Okotoks Town Councillor Ed Sands are seeking the PC nomination. Wildrose leader Danielle Smith is also seeking election in this constituency.
Little Bow (January 28, 2012): Deputy Reeve of the County of Lethbridge Henry Doeve and former County Councillor John Kolk are seeking the PC nomination.
Medicine Hat (January 28, 2012): Former Alderman Darren Hirsch, retired school district superintendent Linda Rossler, and Investment Advisor Dan Hein are seeking the PC nomination to replace long-time MLA Rob Renner. Mr. Hein is the former campaign manager for Medicine Hat MP LaVar Payne
Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood (January 30, 2012): Past City Council candidate Cris Basualdo and Emerson Mayers are the two candidates I have heard are seeking the PC nomination. The constituency has been represented by NDP MLA Brian Mason since 2000.
Edmonton-South West (January 30, 2012): This new constituency has drawn the candidacy of four PC nominees Charles Balenga, Tofael Chowdhury, Matt Jeneroux, and Eva Mah-Borsato.
Calgary-Buffalo (January 30, 2012): Donna Haslam is the only candidate that I am aware of who is seeking the PC nomination. The constituency has been represented by popular Liberal MLA Kent Hehr since 2008.
Edmonton-Mill Woods (January 31, 2012): Despite bizarre nomination shenanigans, the PC nomination contest will still include Ron Randhawa, Sohail Qadri, and controversy-prone MLA Carl Benito.
St. Albert (January 31, 2012): School Trustee Jacquie Hansen, businessman Stephen Khan, and retired armed forces pilot Jeff Wedman are seeking the PC nomination to replace retiring one-term MLA Ken Allred.
27 replies on “alberta tories holding a packed nomination week.”
Lethbridge East Liberal nomination meeting will take place on Feb 15, 2012
Ah … good old nomination news. I know how much work that is, Dave. Now you *need* a week off!
I’m convinced the Tories picked the wrong candidate in Edmonton Gold Bar. Lori Jeffery-Heany did quite well in the civic campaign in polls that overlap with the riding. In fact, she got more votes than Dorward did, and Dorward was running in a high profile race for Mayor.
Jeffery-Heany is well known in the Hardisty/Ottwell area from her active community involvement. She would have been tough to beat.
Chris: Thanks! I will update the candidate nomination list!
PG: Thanks. I have gained a new appreciation of all your hard work covering the party nominations before the last federal election!
Lou: LJH did do quite well in this area in the 2010 municipal election, but Dorward did very well for a PC candidate in the 2008 election. With the shifting boundaries, Dorward’s position will be strengthened with strong PC voting polls that were previously in Edmonton-Mill Creek.
I expect Gold Bar will be an interesting contest to watch.
Anybody want to place bets on whether Danielle wins in Highwood, in the general? I hear there are polling numbers extant showing that she would lose, no matter who the Tories choose.
Bob,
I’d wager she’ll win it. With the incumbent retiring, and only a 36% turnout last time, if she really focuses, has enough money (shouldn’t be a problem), and a large team that can GOTV, I think she could win. It’s certainly demographically a good pick for her, and she’s been campaigning there for quite a while now.
But, if she does lose, then we know the WRP is pretty much finished.
At the end of 2010, the Highwood WR CA had approximately $12,000 in their bank account. Even if Danielle raised twice as much as that in 2011, that still only takes her to about $36,000 or so. The PC CA has over $100,000 in their bank account.
The WR had an incredible challenge raising funds in 2011. By April, they had virtually no money come in and then the majority of WR supporters would’ve turned their time, attention and MONEY to the federal election – which means almost no fundraising dollars for the first quarter. The WR lost $93,000 on their AGM in June, an increasing number of internal squabbles, poor nomination optics/candidates, no high profile candidates, and staff and titles changing faster than anybody can update their Blackberry contacts!!!
Nobody is buying the smoke and mirrors. Hiring Tom Flanagan as campaign manager only confirms that the WR is working hard to give the optics of how well they are doing…..but the more you have to convince people of something, the less likely it is to be true. Also, I feel sorry for all the suckers the WR has convinced to run because they actually have a chance to win their seat – especially in Edmonton. I don’t believe the WR was prepared for the long game….and if they’re not careful, they may not even be around for the long game after the next general election.
This was an interesting article.
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/Liberals+digging+deep+hole+poll/6053819/story.html
Think about those poll numbers a little more.
As things stand, PC’s & NDs will fight to win over disaffected Liberals in urban ridings.
The WRA will finish a strong 2nd to the PC’s in most rural ridings while eroding some PC support in the urban ridings.
The implications for seat counts and party placing are intriguing
Lethbridge East PC Nomination
Bridget Pastoor has won the nomination and will be the PC Candidate for Lethbridge East in the provincial election.
For the love of God, will somebody please, please, please finally stick a knife in the last embarrassing remnants of Jon Lord’s political “career.”
Interesting to watch this weekend’s results…lots of good contests. Airdrie will be really interesting, and the momentum from the PC nomination could really push Rob Anderson hard, as many see him as “Airdrie’s traitor” who really struggles to be a team player
Results for Jan 28 Nomination meetings
http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/politics/Fierce+battle+Alberta+spots+before+spring+election+call/6069109/story.html
John Barlow won Highwood. John Kolk won Little Bow.
Neither unexpected
FYI Edmonton South West held its nomination meeting on Monday January 30. Over 350 turned out to vote, with Matt Jeneroux winning on the third ballot.
Wilson Mccutchan to run for Libs in Calgary West. Not sure if there’s a nomination meeting, or he’s appointed. https://twitter.com/#!/WilsonMcCutchan
Larry Ashmore leader of the Evergreen Party is running in Livingstone-Macleod
Matt Jeneroux is definitely going down.
When Rob Anderson won the Airdrie constituency nomination as a PC (walked to the Wildrose mid-stream) there was something like 2000 votes. With the newly nominated PC candidate (Hegg), apparently there was something like 400 votes cast. This must be an indicator of something.
There are a lest two school principals now nominated as PC candidates. How do principals have the time to do electioneering and if elected, then what happens?
Too bad Rob Anderson is easily going to lose this election. People in Airdrie don’t like someone who was elected by them as one party and then leaves to another without consulting them.
If Anderson had any honour whatsoever he would have faced a by-election.
Clearly he’s in it for himself and not the people of Airdrie.
As a matter of note – Marie does not have insider information! I do know of some of the financials of which she talks – not happening. Just a correction!
I agree with Gordon – the ATA head also ran – did he or she win a nomination? I hope that the principals were not running on time that I was paying for as a taxpayer!! Hopefully now that they are nominated they resign. My bet is they will hang out with full salary until election time and then take a month leave of absence. Never give up a salary until you have a better one!
I never said I had insider information. Give me a break, the numbers I gave are a matter of public record.
Don’t be surprised if the WR doesn’t file their party financials with Elections Alberta on March 31st! (Remember they did so early and issued a press release about their fundraising numbers???) They were hoping timing of the election was going to help them with that!!! LOL. (And, if the PC’s tried such a delay tactic, the WR would be screaming at the top of their freaking lungs!!)
Oops!
Meant to say “Remember last year they filed their financials early and issued a press release regarding their fundraising numbers!”
Don’t be surprised if the WR doesn’t file their party financials with Elections Alberta on March 31st!
What makes you say that?
[…] the contest. Mr. Lord placed a distant sixth in his bid to become Mayor of Calgary in 2010 and was unsuccessful in his attempt to win back the PC nomination in Calgary-Currie before the recent provincial election. In the 2004 provincial election, Mr. Lord was unseated as MLA […]
Hi Dave,
While searching for the name Lori Jeffrey-Heany, I came across this webpage and was very surprised (to say the least), that a Progressive Conservative candidate in Edmonton – Gold Bar, would ALSO be the official Representative, and on the Bargaining Committee for the Edmonton Public Library members belonging to CSU 52. (Edmonton Public Library).
How does a failed Tory candidate than end up representing members of a union on the BARGAINING COMMITTEE?