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Alberta Politics

Tuesday Night candidate nomination updates in Alberta

With the spectre of a spring provincial general election hanging over us, the Progressive Conservative, Wildrose and New Democratic parties are in a hurry to nominate candidates in Alberta’s 87 constituencies. On Jan. 19, 2015, the PC Party announced that nomination votes would be opened in 12 more constituencies on Feb. 28, (in addition to the 35 constituencies scheduled to hold nomination contests on Feb 21, 2015). This means the PC Party will have more than half of their election candidates nominated before the end of February 2015.

In desperate need of good news, the Wildrose Party is expected to soon announce a handful of newly nominated candidates in constituencies across Alberta. The Liberals have yet to nominate any candidates.

Here are the latest candidate nomination updates, by constituency:

Ron Casey Banff Cochrane MLA
Ron Casey

Banff-Cochrane: Progressive Conservative MLA Ron Casey has announced plans to run for his party’s nomination. Mr. Casey was first elected in 2012 and was the only PC MLA elected from rural southern Alberta in that election. Scott Wagner remains the only candidate in the Wildrose nomination contest, as Paul McLean withdrew from the contest soon after the mass-floor crossing of Wildrose MLAs in December 2014.

Calgary-Northern Hills: MLA Teresa Woo-Paw declared on Twitter that she is running for re-election. The two-term MLA is being challenged for the PC nomination by mortgage broker and L.L.B. graduate Aryan Sadat.

Calgary-VarsityStephanie Mclean is seeking the NDP nomination, scheduled for February 21, 2015. Ms. Mclean recently stood as the NDP candidate in the Calgary-Elbow by-election and will also soon be nominated as the federal NDP candidate in the new Calgary-Confederation riding.

Sarah Hoffman NDP Edmonton Glenora
Sarah Hoffman

Edmonton-Glenora: As predicted in my previous update, Edmonton Public School Board Chairperson Sarah Hoffman will seek the NDP nomination, scheduled for Feb. 13, 2015. Ms. Hoffman was first elected to the school board in 2010. Ms. Hoffman’s candidacy has been endorsed by fellow trustees Michael Janz, Michelle Draper, and Ray Martin.

Edmonton-Gold Bar: This will be a race to watch. PC MLA David Dorward plans to seek re-election. Gold Bar was held by the Liberals from 1986 until 2012, when popular MLA Hugh MacDonald retired. The lack of Liberal incumbent led to a three-way race which saw Mr. Dorward elected with 33% of the vote. Placing second in that race with 29% was NDP candidate Marlin Schmidt, who is already nominated to run again.

Kerry Towle
Kerry Towle

Innisfail-Sylvan Lake: Wildrose-turned-PC MLA Kerry Towle announced she will seek the PC nomination. Ms. Towle crossed the floor to the PCs in late November 2014.

Little Bow: Bev Muendel-Atherstone announced on Facebook that she has submitted her nomination papers to run in this southern rural constituency. Ms. Muendel-Atherstone earned 6.15% of the vote as the NDP candidate in the 2012 election.

Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills: Town of Carstairs Councillor Nathan Cooper is running for the Wildrose Party nomination in this central Alberta constituency. Mr. Cooper currently serves as Chief of Staff for the Wildrose Official Opposition.

Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre: The Sundre RoundUp reports that the former Wildrose-turned-Independent MLA Joe Anglin is considering a run for the PC nomination in his constituency. First elected as a Wildrose MLA in 2012, Mr. Anglin also led the Alberta Green Party from 2008 to 2009.

Vermilion-Lloydminster: First-term PC MLA Richard Starke announced on Twitter that he will seek the PC nomination in this east central Alberta constituency. Mr. Starke briefly served as Minister of Tourism, Parks and Recreation from 2013 until 2014.


I have added these updates to the list of nominees and nomination candidates planning to run in Alberta’s next general election. Please email david.cournoyer [at] gmail.com if there are additions to the list. Thank you.

Categories
Alberta Politics

alberta candidate nomination update – august 2011 (part 2).

Former Green Party leader chosen as Wildrose candidate in Rocky Mountain House-Sundre

I have updated the list of declared and nominated candidates standing for the next provincial election. Here are some of the updates:

Joe-Anglin-Wildrose-Sundre-Rocky-Mountain-House
Joe Anglin

Rocky Mountain House-Sundre: According to Wildrose provincial director Krista Waters, landowners rights advocate and former leader of the Alberta Green Party leader Joe Anglin won the Wildrose nomination on August 13. Mr. Anglin defeated Rocky Mountain House town councillor Sheila Mizera and former constituency association president Ed Wicks. Mr. Anglin earned 22% of the vote as his former party’s candidate in Lacombe-Ponoka in the 2008 provincial election. He was elected to Rimbey Town Council in October 2010.

Cypress-Medicine Hat: Scott Raible, a teacher at Eagle Butte High School, was acclaimed at an NDP joint-nomination meeting last night in Medicine Hat. According to his biography on the school website, he is currently teaching Grade 10, 11 and 12 English Language Arts and in 2002 he founded the radio station CJLT 99.5 FM (currently Power 93.7 FM) and was awarded “Best New Business of the Year” by the Medicine Hat Chamber of Commerce.

Edmonton-McClung: Peter Janisz will face Carrie Kohan for this west Edmonton constituency’s Wildrose nomination. He is the owner of Peter’s Paving Stones.

Grande Prairie-Smoky: Todd Loewen is seeking the Wildrose nomination. Mr. Loewen was his party’s candidate in the 2008 provincial election, earning 13% of the vote, and until recently was the Northern Director for the Wildrose Alliance. He is a Director of the Alberta Professional Outfitters Association.

Little Bow: Psychologist Bev Muendel-Atherstone was acclaimed as the NDP candidate a nomination meeting earlier this week in the southern Alberta constituency. Ms. Muendel-Atherstone is the President of the Lethbridge Federal NDP Riding Association and Co-Chair of the Alberta NDP Women’s Caucus. She is listed as the Secretary of the Lethbridge East Rotary Club.

Dennis Perrier NDP Medicine Hat
Dennis Perrier

Medicine Hat: Dennis Perrier defeated Manuel Martinez at the NDP’s joint-nomination meeting last night in Medicine Hat. Mr. Perrier was the federal NDP candidate in the 2011 federal election and placed second with 13% of the vote, behind Conservative LaVar Payne (who earned 71% of the vote). Mr. Martinez was his party’s candidate in the 2008 provincial election in the Cypress-Medicine Hat constituency, where he earned 3.9% of the vote to PC MLA Len Mitzel‘s 63%.

St. Albert: Management consultant Tim Osborne and local firefighter Victor Fernandez are seeking the Alberta Party nomination in this Capital Region constituency. Before starting his own business, Mr. Osborne worked for the United Way of the Capital Region. Mr. Fernandez is a founder of the charity Canadian Aid for Fire Services Abroad.

Sherwood Park-Strathcona: Strathcona County Councillor Jason Gariepy was defeated by Paul Nemetchek in a contested nomination for the Wildrose. Mr. Nemetchek ran for the PC nomination against current MLA Dave Quest in 2008. He was a founding board member for the Strathcona Wildrose and previously worked as a campaign manager for former Conservative Member of Parliament Ken Epp.