For the past year I have been maintaining a list of declared and nominated candidates planning to stand in Alberta’s next provincial general election. To give readers a better idea about where in the province the five main political parties are actually nominating candidates, I have created an easy spreadsheet with a regional breakdown.
For the regional breakdown, I have used the same divisions used by Wikipedia. The Edmonton region consists of all constituencies within the city, and St. Albert, Spruce Grove-St. Albert, Sherwood Park, and Strathcona-Sherwood Park.
Here are some of the recent updates that I made to the list:
Battle River-Wainwright: Buffalo Trail Public Schools Trustee Dave Nelson was nominated as the Wildrose candidate in this east central constituency. Mr. Nelson defeated Rob Johnson, Tom Jackson, and Heisler Mayor Sean Maciborski.
Calgary-Cross: Teacher Narita Sherman was acclaimed as the Liberal Party candidate in this north east Calgary constituency. Ms. Sherman is the niece of party leader Raj Sherman.
Calgary-Currie: St. Michael’s School Principal Christine Cusanelli is seeking the Progressive Conservative nomination in this south central Calgary constituency. The constituency is currently represented by Alberta Party MLA Dave Taylor, who will be retiring at the next election.
Calgary-Klein: Chris Tahn was nominated as the Liberal Party candidate.
Cardston-Taber-Warner: Pat Shimbashi defeated MLA Broyce Jacobs to win the PC nomination. Mr. Jacobs was first elected in 2001, was defeated by Alberta Alliance candidate Paul Hinman in 2004, and was re-elected in 2008.
Edmonton-Gold Bar: Recent Mayoral candidate David Dorward has announced that he will be seeking the PC nomination. Mr. Dorward placed second as the PC candidate in the 2008 election. The Wildrose have nominanted Linda Carlson as their candidate. The Liberals will be holding a nomination meeting to replace retiring MLA Hugh MacDonald on December 5. Josipa Petrunic and Christian Villeneuve are the two candidates who have announced their entry into the Liberal nomination contest.
Edmonton-Mill Creek: On December 7, the NDP are expected to nominate Evelinne Teichgrabber as their candidate.
Edmonton-Mill Woods: Sources say that a challenger by the name of Ron Randhawa will challenge PC MLA Carl Benito for their party’s nomination. First-term MLA Mr. Benito grabbed headlines when it was revealed that he broke a promise to donate his entire MLA salary to a youth scholarship and when he publicly blamed his wife for not paying his municipal taxes.
Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville: Tofield Mayor Nabil Chehayeb has entered the PC nomination race. Already in the race are Vegreville Mayor Richard Coleman, Strathcona County Councillor Jacquie Fenske, and former Fort Saskatchewan Mayor Jim Sheasgreen. The nomination meeting to replace local MLA and former Premier Ed Stelmach is scheduled to be held on January 23, 2012.
Lacombe-Ponoka: Doug Hart is seeking the NDP nomination in this central Alberta constituency. In the 1989 election, Mr. Hart was the NDP candidate in the now defunct Ponoka-Rimbey constituency. He is the President of the Federal NDP association in the Wetaskiwin riding.
Lethbridge-East: With MLA Bridget Pastoor crossing the floor to the PC caucus, the Liberals are left without a candidate in this long-held Grit constituency. Ms. Pastoor has indicated that she will seek the PC nomination to run in the next election.
Little Bow: Long-time MLA Barry McFarland has announced that he will be retiring at the next election. Mr. McFarland was first elected in a 1992 by-election. In February 2011, County of Lethbridge Deputy Reeve Henry Doeve publicly expressed his interest in the PC nomination.
Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills: Darcy Davis has won the PC nomination in this central Alberta constituency. Mr. Davis defeated candidate Al Kemmere and Will Stevenson. Mr. Davis is the past Chair of Alberta Beef Producers.
Stony Plain: Stony Plain Mayor Ken Lemke is the nominated PC candidate, having defeated four other candidates – Parkland County Councillor Dianne Allen, Vern Hardman, David Cymbaluk and second-place finisher Lorna Wolodko. The Wildrose Party will nominate their candidate on December 17. Hal Tagg is only candidate to declare his entry so far.
West Yellohead: Barry Madsen is expected to be acclaimed at a December 9 nomination meeting in Hinton. As the NDP candidate in the 2004 provincial election, Mr. Madsen placed second with 21% of the vote.
UPDATE: Alberta School Boards Association President Jacquie Hansen announced today that she is taking a leave of absence to seek PC nomination in St. Albert. Ms. Hansen has been a trustee of the Greater St. Albert Catholic School Board since 2001.
16 replies on “alberta candidate nomination update – november 2011 (part 3)”
Get rid of the mug shot of Barry McFarland. This decidedly back bench MLA should have been retired long ago. Long standing disconnect between brain and vocal activities.
I read on twitter that there is a gentleman by the name of Sohil who is also seeking the PC nomination in Millwoods. It’s going to be an interesting time in this little riding. I’m looking forward to an exciting race in this constituency. Viva el NDP!!!
Actually it is Sohail – slight correction
Thanks, Sandra. I’ll look into that.
My thoughts are that there are more than a few folks who would like someone other than the current PC incumbent to be their MLA in Edmonton-Mill Woods (including many Tories).
I am curious; with respect to Calgary-Klein, was there any other candidates running besides Chris Tahn and, if so, who?
Benito has been a good representative for the mushroom industry.
Update: Alberta School Boards Association President Jacquie Hansen has taken a leave of absence to seek Progressive Conservative nomination in St. Albert
Its sad to see School Association boards running for the very dictators that keep scrapping the education budget. Sad, there is almost no moral or ethical will to run for most non Tory parties. They know its wrong to run for these guys, but they do it, to get their bread buttered. The political bar is set way too low.
And John Kolk, who came in second during the last nomination for Little Bow, is running again as well.
Is Luke Ouellette running in Innisfail/Sylva Lake – rumor has it that he told his campaign team 2 weeks ago what he was doing inthe next election – but no word yet in public. I do know that he has publicly indicated his unhappiness with current leadership???
I was told by some quite reliable sources that Luke told the local constituency organization that he will be running again and got a good show of support from the local P.C.’s members in attendance.
Thanks Mike – that does not surprise me. All the best
From what I have heard, Ouellette is still thinking about it, but your source on the ground may be more reliable, Michael.
Today, former Finance Minister and current Lloydminster-Vermilion MLA Lloyd Snelgrove announced that he will be retiring at the next election.
Darcy Davis successful second time around. He has been thru the Alberta and Canadian Beef Associations and the international marketing arm of the beef industry – cannot seem to get off the public dole. Also it is quite disappointing to see the president od the ATA running but not surprising considering the close relationship established in the leadership race – looking for a cabinet post no doubt
I was hoping for some real conservatives!
So Ric McIver (against stupid spending) wins nomination from Art Johnson – only MLA to support Redford initially. The folks want conservatives perhaps?
Luke Oullette is having a Christmas social at the Hideout Lounge in Gasoline Alley on the south side of Red Deer on Sunday December 11th.
Not something one would expect from someone planning to step down.
So another indication that Luke will likely be running again in the next election in the constituency of Innisfail-Sylvan Lake.