Elections Alberta has released initial campaign finance disclosures from the March 22, 2016 by-election in the Calgary-Greenway constituency. The by-election was held following the death of PC MLA Manmeet Bhullar, who had represented the area in the Legislative Assembly since 2008.
Here is a brief description of what the initial submissions show us:
- The campaign of Progressive Conservative candidate Prabhdeep Gill spent $78,886.45, including a $23,000 transfer from the PC Party. His campaign ended with a $538.55 surplus.
- The campaign of Wildrose candidate candidate Devinder Toor spent $53,903.06 and received a $25,000 transfer from the Wildrose Party. His campaign ended with a $500 surplus.
- The campaign of Liberal candidate Khalil Karbani reported $56,963.34 in expenses while only receiving $11,300 in revenue. His campaign ended with a $45,663.34 deficit.
- The campaign of New Democratic Party candidate Roop Rai spent $85,613.51, which was entirely a transfer from the provincial party.
- The campaign of Green Party candidate Thana Boonlert reported expenses of $6,749.52, which was the same as the campaign’s revenue.
Mr. Gill was elected on March 22 with 27 percent of the vote, holding the seat for the PCs in a close four way race. A mere 625 votes separated Mr. Gill from Mr. Toor (23 percent), Mr. Karbani (22 percent) and Ms. Rai (20 percent). Turnout by eligible voters was estimated to be at 29 percent.
When the initial expenses are broken down, each candidate’s campaign spent the following amount of money per vote received:
- Mr. Gill: $34.40 per vote.
- Mr. Toor: $27.54 per vote
- Mr. Karbani: $30.46 per vote
- Ms. Rai: $51.35 per vote.
6 replies on “Elections Alberta releases Calgary-Greenway by-election campaign financials”
It’s worth noting that the NDP riding level donations are always difficult to break down because their online donations all get routed through the provincial party then transferred to the riding they were designated for by the donor.
Thanks for the reminder, Joel. That is important to note.
So just to confirm, the party which finished fourth and spent the most money is now the party that is claiming that without spending limits “big money” will dominate politics?
Yes. Calgary-Shaw NDP MLA Graham Sucha is proposing a spending cap much lower than the $85,613.51 spent by the NDP candidate in the Calgary-Greenway by-election.
Just a reminder, though, that when there are no spending limits, “big money” does, indeed, begin to dominate politics.
Indeed – which is why we need spending limits: http://daveberta.ca/2016/08/spending-limits-for-election-candidates-yes-please/