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Alberta Politics

Nomination updates: UCP names MLAs Guthrie, Pitt, Copping and Loewen. Cathy Hogg running for NDP nomination in Cypress-Medicine Hat

UCP nomination candidates Peter Guthrie Angela Pitt Jason Copping Todd Loewen candidates elections daveberta
UCP MLAs Peter Guthrie, Angela Pitt, Jason Copping and Todd Loewen (left to right)

With six months left until the next election, the Alberta NDP have nominated candidates in 67 of Alberta’s 87 ridings. The United Conservative Party have candidates named in 45 ridings and the Green Party has 23 candidates. The Alberta Party has nominated 3 candidates and the Liberal Party has one.

Here are the latest candidate nomination updates:

United Conservative Party

  • The United Conservative Party announced the nominations of incumbent MLAs Peter Guthrie in Airdrie-Cochrane, Angela Pitt in Airdrie-East, Jason Copping in Calgary-Varsity, and Todd Loewen in Central Peace-Notley.
  • Calgary-Elbow: Lawyer Chris Davis defeated past city council candidate Cornelia Weibe and lawyer Andrea James to win the UCP nomination. Recent UCP leadership candidate Jon Horsman had announced his candidacy in the race but did not appear on the ballot. The riding not been represented in the Legislature since former UCP MLA Doug Schweitzer resigned on August 31, 2022.
  • Calgary-Lougheed: Former premier Jason Kenney has resigned as MLA for the southwest Calgary riding. Kenney was first elected as MLA in a 2017 by-election and was re-elected in 2019.
  • Drayton Valley-Devon: Real estate agent Andrew Boitchenko defeated former constituency president Carol Vowk and Brazeau County Councillor Kara Westerlund to secure the UCP nomination. Boitchenko ran for the UCP nomination in 2018 but was defeated by UCP MLA Mark Smith. Smith is not running for re-election in 2023.
  • Edmonton-Beverly-Clareview: Felix Amenaghawon, Lana Palmer and Luke Suvanto are seeking the UCP nomination. A nomination vote is scheduled for December 20.
  • Edmonton-Mill Woods: Raman Athwal has been nominated as the UCP candidate.
  • Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo: MLA Tany Yao is facing Zulkifl Mujahid and construction association CEO Keith Plowman in the UCP nomination in Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo. Voting for the nomination closes at 9:00 p.m. tonight. UPDATE: Mujahid defeated Yao and Plowman to win the UCP nomination.
  • St. Albert: Past mayoral candidate Angela Wood defeated ministerial press secretary Melissa Crane to win the UCP nomination.

And as noted in the Alberta Today newsletter, Ontario political staffer Pierçon Knezic has been hired as the UCP’s Director of Election Readiness.

Alberta NDP

Kevin Van Tighem Shannon Phillips Alberta NDP candidate Livingstone Macleod
Kevin Van Tighem and NDP MLA Shannon Phillips (source: Kevin Van Tighem / Facebook)
  • Cypress-Medicine Hat: Cathy Hogg is the second candidate to join the NDP nomination contest. Hogg has served on the Prairie Rose Public School since 2013, including recently as board chair, and as President of the Public School Boards’ Association of Alberta. Tim Gruber announced his plans to run for the nomination in September.
  • Livingstone-Macleod: Conservationist and author Kevin Van Tighem was nominated as the Alberta NDP candidate in Livingstone-Macleod. Van Tighem is the former Superintendent of Banff National Park and he has been an outspoken critic of the UCP government’s plans to allow open-pit coal mining in the Rocky Mountains.

Green Party

The Green Party has nominated Catriona Wright in Calgary-South East and Ernestina Malheiro in Edmonton-Gold Bar, Kristina Howard in Edmonton-West Henday, Taylor Lower in Lacombe-Ponoka, and Tegra-Lee Campbell in Vermilion-Lloydminster-Wainwright.

Upcoming nomination meetings

Here are the scheduled upcoming nominations:

  • December 4 – Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo UCP
  • December 8 – West Yellowhead NDP
  • December 9 & 10 – Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock UCP
  • December 10, 11, 12 – Bonnyville-Cold Lake-St. Paul UCP
  • December 11 – Edmonton-South UCP
  • December 17 – Calgary-North NDP
  • December 17 – Chestermere-Strathmore UCP
  • December 20 – Edmonton-Beverly-Clareview UCP

I am building a list of candidates running for party nominations, so if you are seeking a nomination and would like you name added to the list please let me know. Thanks!

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Keith Plowman challenging UCP MLA Tany Yao in Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo, Hassan Bokhari joins Calgary-North NDP nomination race

Keith Plowman (souce: Keith Plowman/Facebook)

Keith Plowman is challenging MLA Tany Yao for the United Conservative Party nomination in Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo. A nomination meeting has been scheduled for December 4.

“The last major announcement that we had with provincial money in Fort McMurray was Willow Square and that was with the NDP government,” Plowman told Fort McMurray Today. “I’m concerned that, with the amount of money and oil royalties that go out of Fort McMurray to the rest of the province, it’s a little disappointing that we don’t have more of that money coming back to Fort McMurray.”

Plowman is the President of the Fort McMurray Construction Association and was a candidate for Athabasca County Council in October 2021.

He is a director of the Athabasca Chamber of Commerce and his biography on that organization’s website says he “moved to Athabasca in 2010” and resides “on a small farm in the Forfar area.”

Yao was first elected as a Wildrose Party candidate in 2015 and was re-elected under the UCP banner in 2019 with 71 per cent of the vote.

Bokhari second candidate to enter Calgary-North NDP race

Hassan Bokhari NDP Calgary-North Nomination Candidate
Hassan Bokhari (source: Hassan Bokhari/Facebook)

Real estate agent Hassan Bokhari is the second candidate to enter the Alberta NDP nomination in Calgary-North.

Bokhari joins Moses Mariam in the nomination contest. A nomination meeting is scheduled for December 17.

The riding is currently represented by UCP MLA Muhammad Yaseen.

The NDP also added two new members to their slate of candidates last week: Justin Huseby in Calgary-South East and Denis Ram in Calgary-Peigan.

Wellwood disqualification upheld

Danielle Smith and Nadine Wellwood United Conservative Party Take Back Alberta
Premier Danielle Smith and Nadine Wellwood at the Take Back Alberta hospitality suite at the UCP AGM (source: Nadine Wellwood/Twitter)

The UCP has upheld the disqualification of Nadine Wellwood as a nomination candidate in Livingstone-Macleod.

As reported by the CBC, Wellwood had advocated for debunked COVID-19 treatments like ivermectin and compared vaccine passports to policies enacted by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime.

Wellwood claimed to have sold 800 UCP memberships in the southwest Alberta riding and was the only candidate in the race after MLA Roger Reid withdrew the day after the entry deadline.

Third candidate joins Calgary-Elbow UCP race

Lawyer Chris Davis joins Jon Horsman and Andrea James in the UCP nomination contest in Calgary-Elbow.

Davis was a candidate for Calgary City Council in 2017 and ran for the party’s nomination in the riding in 2018 and was defeated by Doug Schweitzer.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Davis has worked as Senior Manager of Legal Services for the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo since 2020.

Schweitzer resigned as MLA on August 31, 2022 and because Premier Danielle Smith refused to call a concurrent by-election when she ran in Brooks-Medicine Hat the riding’s seat in the Legislature will remain vacant until the May 2023 election.

A nomination vote is being held on December 3.

Other nomination updates

  • Joan Chand’oiseau is expected to be nominated as the NDP candidate in Calgary-West at a nomination meeting on November 16.
  • The UCP have opened nominations in Maskwacis-Wetaskiwin. The riding is currently represented by UCP MLA Rick Wilson.

Seen on the doors

Karen Shaw Rachel Notley Morinville-St. Albert NDP candidate
Karen Shaw with Rachel Notley and a campaign volunteer canvassing in Morinville on November 12 (source: Rachel Notley/Twitter)

NDP leader Rachel Notley and MLAs Marie Renaud and Lorne Dach joined local candidate Karen Shaw and volunteers for an afternoon of door-knocking in Morinville-St. Albert this past weekend.

Shaw is a former four-term Sturgeon County Councillor. The NDP see the riding north of Edmonton as a must-win in the next election. The riding is currently represented by UCP MLA Dale Nally.

Total nominated candidates

The NDP have nominated candidates in 64 of Alberta’s 87 ridings. The UCP have candidates named in 36 ridings and the Green Party has 18 candidates. The Alberta Party has nominated 3 candidates and the Liberal Party has one.

Here are the scheduled upcoming nominations:

  • November 16 – Calgary-West NDP
  • November 20 – Airdrie-East NDP
  • November 23 – Livingstone-Macleod NDP
  • November 26 – St. Albert UCP
  • December 2 & 3 – Drayton Valley-Devon UCP
  • December 3 – Calgary-Elbow UCP
  • December 4 – Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo UCP
  • December 8 – West Yellowhead NDP
  • December 17 – Calgary-North NDP

I am building a list of candidates running for party nominations, so if you are seeking a nomination and would like you name added to the list please let me know. Thanks!

(Subscribe to the Daveberta Substack and get my bi-weekly Alberta politics column delivered straight into your email inbox)

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Nomination Updates: Brooks-Medicine Hat by-election, UCP and NDP open more races, Greens name 15 new candidates

Brooks-Medicine Hat by-election Gwendoline Dirk Barry Morishita Danielle Smith
Gwendoline Dirk, Barry Morishita, Danielle Smith

There is no such thing as a boring week in Alberta politics and this past week was no exception. But while we are all trying to pay attention to what the new Premier said then and is saying now, it would be easy to let all the fun candidate nomination news that I enjoy writing about just sail by. I couldn’t possibly let that happen, because there are a lot of updates.

I’ll start with the by-election in Brooks-Medicine Hat.

Brooks-Medicine Hat by-election

A November 8 by-election has been called in Brooks-Medicine Hat and Premier Danielle Smith is running as the United Conservative Party candidate. She will face Alberta NDP candidate and retired teacher Gwendoline Dirk and Brooks mayor-turned-Alberta Party leader Barry Morishita.

Lethbridge-West MLA Shannon Phillips was on hand to help Dirk’s kick off her campaign this week. Dirks is a retired high school teacher and Medicine Hat College instructor. She ran for a seat on the Medicine Hat Public School Board in 2021 and is a member of the Medicine Hat Police Commission. Her partner Peter Mueller was the NDP candidate in the neighbouring Cypress-Medicine Hat riding in the 2019 election.

This is Morishita’s first time running in an election as the leader of the Alberta Party but he is a veteran of elections in the City of Brooks. He served on Brooks City Council from 1998 to 2003 and 2010 to 2016, and was Mayor from 2019 until 2021.

This is not Morishita’s first time running in a provincial election. In 2001, he ran for the Liberals against Progressive Conservative cabinet minister Lyle Oberg, earning 15.5 per cent of the vote.

Former Newell County Councillor Mara Nesbitt, who had previously announced her plans to run for the nomination, has withdrawn and is supporting Smith’s candidacy.

The deadline for candidates to enter the nomination is October 21 and it’s looking like it won’t be a crowded race.

Buffalo Party leader John Holberg and party president Raman Bains announced that the recently formed right-wing party would not put forward a candidate to run in the by-election. “We wish the Premier the best of luck in the Brooks-Medicine Hat by election,” the statement declared.

Also out is the Liberal Party. Interim leader John Roggeveen told the Medicine Hat News that the party will not be running a candidate in the by-election. And Wildrose Independence Party leader Paul Hinman, who was once an MLA for a large southern rural Alberta riding, is busy being embroiled in legal action to take back control of the party.

Independence Party of Alberta leader and Calgary street preacher Artur Pawlowski is hosting information sessions on Oct 17 in Medicine Hat on Oct. 17 and Brooks on Oct. 19 but the party hasn’t publicly named a candidate. UPDATE: Bob Blayone has been named as the Independence Party candidate. 

Now to other candidate nomination news from across Alberta:

Alberta NDP

  • Two-term MLA David Shepherd was nominated as the NDP candidate Edmonton-City Centre. Shepard was first elected in 2015 and was re-elected in 2019 with 66 per cent of the vote.
  • Dawn Flaata was nominated as the NDP candidate in Vermilion-Lloydminster-Wainwright at an October 15 meeting. Flaata is a local author with a long history of involvement in the chamber of commerce in Vermilion and was a Constituency Assistant to former Conservative MP Leon Benoit.
  • Communications consultant Amanda Chapman defeated firefighter Jason Curry to secure the NDP nomination in Calgary-Beddington.
  • Liana Paiva running for the NDP nomination in Peace River with a nomination meeting scheduled for Friday, October 28, 2022.
  • Lawyer Denis Ram is running for NDP nomination in Calgary-Peigan at a November 8 nomination meeting. Ram placed second in the NDP nomination in Calgary-Cross in July 2022.

United Conservative Party

  • Jon Horsman is the second candidate to declare plans to run for the UCP nomination in Calgary-Elbow. Horsman is a former bank vice-president and briefly was a candidate for the leadership of the UCP. Lawyer Andrea James announced her candidacy in June 2022.
  • Adele Poratto is running for the UCP nomination in Red Deer-South. Poratto ran for the nomination in 2018 and for the PC Party nomination in the riding ahead of the 2008 election. Ran for the nomination in 2018
  • Brazeau County Councillor Kara Westerlund is the third candidate to enter the UCP nomination contest in Drayton Valley-Devon. Westerlund has served on county council since 2010 and is a Vice President of the Rural Municipalities of Alberta. She joins Carol Vowk and Andrew Boitchenko.
  • It looks like Premier Smith has ceded the UCP nomination in Livingstone-Macleod to incumbent MLA Roger Reid. Reid had been running against Smith for the nomination in her home riding while she was running for the party leadership and he now says he plans to continue to run for the UCP nomination for the next election.
  • The UCP has opened up nominations in Drayton Valley-Devon, Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo, Livingstone-Macleod, St. Albert and Vermilion-Lloydminster-Wainwright.

Green Party of Alberta

The Green Party of Alberta has nominated 15 candidates, including party leader Jordan Wilkie, who will now run in Edmonton-Rutherford instead of Banff-Kananaskis as he previously announced. Here is the full list of nominated Green Party candidates:

  • Calgary-Buffalo: Heather Morigeau
  • Calgary-Currie: Jonathan Parks
  • Calgary-East: Jayden Baldonado
  • Calgary-Edgemont: Brandy Kinkead
  • Calgary-Hays: Evelyn Tanaka
  • Calgary-Peigan: Shaun Pulsifer
  • Cypress-Medicine Hat: Dustin Cartwright
  • Edmonton-Beverly-Clareview: Michael Hunter
  • Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood: Kristine Kowalchuk
  • Edmonton-North West: Tyler Beaulac
  • Edmonton-Rutherford: Jordan Wilkie
  • Edmonton-South West: Jeff Cullihall
  • Edmonton-Strtahcona: Robert Gooding-Townsend
  • Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills: Daniel Brisbin
  • Sherwood Park: Lucas Bevin

Upcoming nomination meetings

  • October 19 – Lacombe-Ponoka NDP
  • October 20 – Calgary-Fish Creek NDP
  • October 26 – Calgary-Hays NDP
  • October 26 – Edmonton-City Centre Green
  • October 28 – Bonnyville-Cold Lake-St. Paul NDP
  • October 28 – Peace River NDP
  • November 8 – Calgary-Peigan NDP
  • November 8 – Calgary-South East NDP

The tally

The NDP have now nominated candidates in 58 of Alberta’s 87 electoral districts. As previously noted, it appears as though the UCP have paused the nomination process until after their new leader is selected on October 6. The Green Party has 15 candidates nominated and the Alberta Party has named three candidates.

See the full list of nomination candidates here.

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Read my latest column about the challenges facing Premier Danielle Smith in the short 7-months ahead of the next election.

Continue reading “Nomination Updates: Brooks-Medicine Hat by-election, UCP and NDP open more races, Greens name 15 new candidates”
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Jaelene Tweedle wins NDP nomination in Red Deer-North, Danielle Smith says she won’t call a by-election in Calgary-Elbow

NDP MLA Janis Irwin and Red Deer-North candidate Jaelene Tweedle.
Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood NDP MLA Janis Irwin and Red Deer-North candidate Jaelene Tweedle (source: Jaelene Tweedle/Facebook)

Jaelene Tweedle defeated Craig Curtis to win the Alberta NDP nomination in Red Deer-North.

“I believe without a doubt that Red Deer-North, and all of Alberta, can thrive under the NDP,” Tweedle said in a statement.

“I will work to ensure our community has access to quality healthcare, a world class public education system, long-term job growth and opportunities for our children, supports and dignity for our most vulnerable, and ensure affordability for families with a competent government steering the ship.”

Tweedle is a former oilfield administrator and was a candidate for the Red Deer Public School Board in 2021.

Education Minister Adriana LaGrange and Premier Jason Kenney (Source: Government of Alberta)
Education Minister Adriana LaGrange and Premier Jason Kenney in 2019 (Source: Government of Alberta)

The riding is currently represented by United Conservative Party MLA and Minister of Education Adriana LaGrange. She was elected in 2019 with 60 per cent of the vote.

The riding was represented by NDP MLA Kim Schreiner from 2015 to 2019 and one of its past MLAs was Stockwell Day, who held the riding from 1986 until he jumped into federal politics in 2000.

Rebecca Bounsall is running for the NDP nomination in Calgary-Fish Creek. She was the party’s candidate in 2019 and earned 28 per cent of the vote.

No by-election in Calgary-Elbow?

UCP leadership front runner Danielle Smith is saying she will call a by-election in a safe rural riding if she wins tonight’s leadership vote. But she is not saying which riding that will be.

The former Wildrose Party leader has been running for the UCP nomination in Livingstone-Macleod but the incumbent UCP MLA Roger Reid appears to be busy campaigning for the nomination.

Smith has also said she will not call a concurrent by-election in Calgary-Elbow, the riding vacated by former UCP MLA Doug Schweitzer last month. The NDP have nominated energy analyst Samir Kayande as their candidate and lawyer Kerry Cundal is running for the Alberta Party. The riding was held by Alberta Party MLA Greg Clark from 2015 to 2019.

Lawyer Andrea James has already announced her plans to run for the UCP nomination and there is speculation in political circles that former City Councillor and mayoral candidate Jeff Davison could also seek the nomination.

Calling a by-election in a safe rural seat so a potential future Premier Smith can get into the Legislative while also not calling a by-election in the already vacant riding sounds like a pretty good way of helping the UCP lose the seat in the next election.

The tally

The NDP have now nominated candidates in 55 of Alberta’s 87 electoral districts. As previously noted, it appears as though the UCP have paused the nomination process until after their new leader is selected on October 6. The Alberta Party has nominated three candidates.

See the full list of nomination candidates here.

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You can read my first post about Danielle Smith’s Alberta Sovereignty Act here.

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Friday Night Action in Alberta Politics – Doug Schweitzer’s out, Rod Shaigec and Sonya Savage are in.

Doug Schweitzer and Jason Kenney in a 2019 United Conservative Party campaign video.
Doug Schweitzer and Jason Kenney in a 2019 United Conservative Party campaign video.

There’s rarely a dull Friday night in Alberta politics!

Doug Schweitzer resigns from UCP cabinet and is leaving politics

Doug Schweitzer announced he is resigning as Minister of Jobs, Economy and Innovation and later this month will resign as MLA for Calgary-Elbow.

Despite running for the United Conservative Party leadership in 2017, Schweitzer bowed out of this year’s race after endorsing Premier Jason Kenney in the June leadership review. He announced soon after that he would not seek re-election as MLA but his sudden resignation announcement at least eight months ahead of the next election comes as a surprise – and opens the possibility of a by-election in Calgary-Elbow before the next general election.

It would be the third by-election in Calgary-Elbow in the last 16 years – the others being held because of the resignations of former MLAs (and premiers) Ralph Klein in 2007 and Alison Redford in 2014.

The 2007 by-election shocked political watchers when Liberal Craig Cheffins won, and in 2014, Alberta Party leader Greg Clark narrowly lost to Calgary school trustee and former Saskatchewan MLA Gordon Dirks. Clark defeated Dirks in the election the following year but was defeated by Schweitzer in 2019.

Already seen as a possible pick-up in the next election, the Alberta NDP nominated energy analyst Samir Kayande and have poured resources and volunteers into the riding to support his bid.

The Alberta Party has chosen lawyer and former Liberal Party leadership candidate Kerry Cundal to carry their banner, and her candidacy will be a test of how much of the party’s support in 2015 was a credit to Greg Clark’s personal popularity.

Lawyer Andrea James announced her plans to seek the UCP nomination back in June.

Mark Calgary-Elbow down on your list of ridings to watch.

Former Mayor running for NDP nomination in Spruce Grove-Stony Plain

Former Parkland County Mayor Rod Shaigec is the second candidate to enter the NDP nomination contest in Spruce Grove-Stony Plain. Shaigec joins former Spruce Grove City Councillor and mayoral candidate Chantal Saramaga-McKenzie in the race.

“We need responsible and accountable government that puts Albertans and communities first. We need an honest, hard-working leader whose integrity is beyond reproach – that leader is @RachelNotley,” Shaigec wrote on Twitter. 

Shaigec served three-terms as Mayor of Parkland County from 2010 to 2021, and chose not to run for re-election last year to give himself time to recover from a traumatic tractor accident in 2020.

The riding is currently represented by UCP MLA Searle Turton, who is already nominated to run for his party in the next election.

Sonya Savage acclaimed in Calgary-North West

Alberta Energy Minister Sonya Savage releases the final report of the Public Inquiry into Anti-Alberta Energy Campaigns.
Alberta Energy Minister Sonya Savage releases the final report of the Public Inquiry into Anti-Alberta Energy Campaigns.

Sonya Savage has been acclaimed as the UCP candidate in Calgary-North West. Savage was first elected in 2019, succeeding NDP MLA Sandra Jansen, who was elected as a Progressive Conservative in 2012 and 2015 but crossed the floor to the NDP in 2017 and became Minister of Infrastructure. Jansen did not run for re-election in 2019.

Savage has served as Minister of Energy since 2019 and is co-chair of Travis Toews’ leadership campaign. 

Before her election, Savage was known as a lawyer and lobbyist for the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association but many years before that she was a PC Party activist. 

“The philosophy we’re looking for is somebody who’s very conservative, less government, more individual responsibility, but also somebody who is progressive who’s backing the unity deal. We want to hear how they’re going to renew and urbanize the party,” said Savage, then known as Sonya Nerland, to Calgary Herald reporter Joan Crockatt on Sept. 19, 1992.

Savage ended up backing Energy Minister Rick Orman in the 1992 leadership race, along with future premier Jim Prentice, who was Orman’s campaign chair.

Orman placed third in the race and dropped out before the Dec. 2, 1992 second ballot to endorse Nancy Betkowski.

Savage would later co-chair Orman’s second campaign for the PC Party leadership in 2011. Orman dropped out after placing fifth on the first ballot and endorsed Gary Mar, who was then defeated by Alison Redford (who was the PC Party Youth President ten years before Savage).

(Am I the only one who’s starting to feel like Alberta politics is just a rotating cast of 20 characters?)

Three candidates – Michael Lisboa-Smith, Lesley MacKinnon, and Shiraz Mir – are running for the yet to be scheduled NDP nomination in Calgary-North West.

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Lawyer Andrea James running for UCP nomination in Calgary-Elbow, former County Councillor Mara Nesbitt challenging MLA Michaela Frey in Brooks-Medicine Hat

Lawyer Andrea James is running for the United Conservative Party nomination in Calgary-Elbow.

James holds law degrees from the University of Calgary, the University of Houston, and a master’s degree in Tax Law from the Osgoode School of Law at York University. She is a founder and principal of Jamesco LLP, a boutique corporate and tax law firm.

Current UCP MLA Doug Schweitzer has announced he will not seek re-election. The NDP nominated energy analyst Samir Kayande and the Alberta Party named lawyer Kerry Cundal as its candidate. Before Schweitzer’s election in 2019, the riding was represented by Alberta Party MLA Greg Clark.

Former County Councillor challenging MLA Michaela Frey in Brooks-Medicine Hat

Mara Nesbitt is planning to challenge MLA Michaela Frey for the UCP nomination in Brooks-Medicine Hat.

Nesbitt is a former County of Newell councillor, constituency assistant for a former MLA Lyle Oberg and is a member of the UCP board of directors in the southeast Alberta riding. Nesbitt was defeated by Arno Doerksen in a bid for the Progressive Conservative Party nomination in Strathmore-Brooks in 2008.

The NDP nominated retired teacher Gwendoline Dirk and the Alberta Party nominated its leader and former Brooks mayor Barry Morishita.

Prasad Panda nominated in Calgary-Egmont

Prasad Panda secured the UCP nomination in Calgary-Egmont. The newly appointed Transportation Minister first entered cabinet in 2019 and was first elected as a Wildrose MLA in the Calgary-Foothills by-election held after former premier Jim Prentice resigned on election night in 2015. He was re-elected in the redrawn Calgary-Egmont in 2019.

Panda previous ran as the Wildrose Party candidate in Calgary-Northern Hills in 2012 and 2015.

The NDP nominated Julia Hayter as its candidate.

Horsman and Sherman jump into UCP leadership race

There are two more candidates declaring their plans to enter the UCP leadership race: former Alberta Treasury Branches Vice President Jon Horsman and former PC MLA and Liberal Party leader Raj Sherman.

I am tracking candidates and building a list of people running for nominations to run in Alberta’s next provincial election. If you know of someone running, please post a comment below or email me at david.cournoyer@gmail.com. Thank you!

(And I am launching a Substack this summer. Sign up at  Daveberta Substack.)

Note: I’ll be taking a break over the next week and a but to enjoy the beginning of summer. Happy Canada Day and happy July. It was a long winter but we made it, folks! 

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