There are 455 days until Edmontonians go to the polls to vote in the next municipal elections and some candidates are already starting to organize their campaigns.
I dropped by the Office of the City Clerk yesterday and discovered that ten candidates have officially registered their intent to run in Edmonton’s 2017 municipal election. Prospective candidates need to file their intentions to run in order to fundraise for their campaigns but they do not need to identify what position they plan to run for until they submit their papers to the City Clerk on the official nomination day.
Five incumbent city councillors Bev Esslinger, Dave Loken, Scott McKeen, Michael Walters and Mike Nickel have filed their papers. I suspect that the five incumbents will run for re-election in their respective Wards. It was suspected that Mr. Nickel could make a third attempt at running for mayor (he did in 1998 and 2001) but a rape joke published on his now-former online talk show’s Facebook page may have convinced him to focus on re-election in Ward 11.
The five challengers who have filed their intentions are:
- Kris Andreychuk, a Supervisor of Community Safety with the City of Edmonton and 2015 Avenue Magazine Top 40 Under 40, announced at a BBQ event at his home in Highlands last weekend that he will run as a candidate for City Council in Ward 7. He has previously worked as a social worker with Neighbourhood Empowerment Teams on 118th Avenue.
- Rob Bernshaw ran for city council in north Edmonton’s Ward 3 in 2013 and in the Public School Board Ward G by-election in 2015.
- Sam Hachem was the sole candidate to challenge Councillor Ed Gibbons in Ward 4 in 2013. He earned 22.8 percent of the vote.
- Shelley Tupper has been a candidate for City Council in north west Edmonton wards in 2007, 2010 and 2013. In 2013 she ran in Ward 2, finishing 5th with 9 percent of the vote. She has previously served as president of the Kensington Community League and is the current Secretary of the Edmonton-Griesbach Conservative Association.
- Matthew (Matty) Wray, about whom I could not find any information online.
The next Municipal Elections will be held on Monday, October 16, 2017.
