The separatist Wildrose Loyalty Coalition was only recognized as a political party by Elections Alberta last week and this weekend the right-wing splinter party registered a slate of 54 candidates in ridings across Alberta.
The right-wing slate includes leader Paul Hinman, who is running in Taber-Warner, an area he represented as an Alberta Alliance and Wildrose Alliance MLA from 2004 to 2008.
The Wildrose Loyalty Coalition was formed by Hinman after he was removed as leader of the Wildrose Independence Party. Hinman was leader of the Wildrose Alliance from its creation in 2008 until 2009, when Danielle Smith was chosen as leader.
Meanwhile, the formerly-Hinman-led Wildrose Independence Party has nominated 2 candidates, including now-leader Jeevan Mangat in Innisfail-Sylvan Lake.
The other right-wing separatist party, the Independence Party, has 11 candidates nominated, including recently named Cody Ray Both in Cypress-Medicine Hat, David Braun in Grande Prairie, Vicky Bayford in Red Deer-North, Kerry Lambert in Chestermere-Strathmore, and Frank Kast in Taber-Warner. Kast replaces previously nominated candidate Brent Ginther.
Recently ousted Independence Party leader Pastor Artur Pawlowski announced last week that he plans to create a new party called the Solidarity Movement of Alberta.
I’m planning to write a more in-depth piece about Alberta’s cottage industry of right-wing political parties on the Daveberta Substack next week.
More nominations
Other smaller parties have also announced new candidates:
The Alberta Party nominated Darrell Dunn in Vermilion-Lloydminster-Vegreville, Wayne Jackson in Calgary-Beddington, and Preston Mildenberger in Grande Prairie.
The Green Party has nominated Christopher Khan in Edmonton-Meadows, David Clarke in Edmonton-City Centre, Derek Thompson in Edmonton-Manning, Lane Robson in Calgary-Currie, Shane Diederich in Grande Prairie. Michelle Overwater Giles in Airdrie-Cochrane, Justin Fuss in Maskwacis-Wetaskiwin, and Galloway Hiatt in West Yellowhead.
Newly registered Independent candidates include Andrej Gudanowski in Edmonton-Beverly-Clareview, Nancy O’Neill in Lesser Slave Lake, Larry Heather in Calgary-Acadia, and disqualified UCP candidate Zulkifl Mujahid in Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo.
Total Nominated candidates
Here are the total nominated candidates running in Alberta’s provincial election:
- United Conservative Party: 87/87
- Alberta NDP: 87/87
- Wildrose Loyalty Coalition 53/87
- Green Party: 39/87
- Alberta Party: 21/87
- Liberal Party: 12/87
- Independence Party: 11/87
- Advantage Party: 3/87
- Communist Party: 3/87
- Wildrose Independence Party: 2/87
- Buffalo Party 1/87
- Pro-Life Political Association: 1/87
Subscribe to the Daveberta Substack
I’m continuing to post candidate nomination updates on this website but subscribe to the Daveberta Substack to read my latest Alberta election coverage. My most recent piece dives into how the United Conservative Party went from being a political juggernaut in 2019 to being neck-and-neck with the Alberta NDP in 2023.
I am planning to share most of my writing for the upcoming Alberta election on Substack, so don’t miss out!
