EDMONTON – The race for the vacant Ward 12 city council seat is wide open.
While the nomination deadline is still weeks away, city officials confirmed Tuesday that 19 candidates have already submitted nomination papers. The race now features more candidates than any other byelection in Edmonton’s history.
The number is expected to rise as the Jan. 25 nomination deadline approaches.
READ MORE: Byelection date set for Ward 12 Edmonton City Council seat
Among the new names running for the spot are Ralph McLean, a former federal Green Party candidate, ex-Wildrose candidate Kyle McLeod, and local restauranteur Field Pieterse. Also joining the field are Nick Chamchuk, Jagdeep Singh Gill, Brian Henderson, and Neil Singh.
The new faces join an already-formidable list of entrants, including University of Alberta Senator Danisha Bhaloo, current Edmonton Catholic Schools trustee Laura Thibert, Grant MacEwan instructor and former city employee Irfan Chaudhry, real estate agent and Punjabi newspaper founder Yash Pal Sharma, and seven others.
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The Ward 12 contest will be the first byelection for a city council seat since 1994, when sitting councillor Judy Bethel left after being elected as an MP in Edmonton-East. For comparison, 18 candidates ran in 1994.
The winner, Sherry McKibben, won with 20 per cent of the vote, and lost the seat in 1995 to future NDP MLA Brian Mason.
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The election takes place on Feb. 22. The seat was left vacant after its previous occupant, Amarjeet Sohi, was elected as an MP in Edmonton-Mill Woods. Sohi, now serving as federal minister of infrastructure, was elected to the seat in 2010.
Edmonton’s last byelection was held this September, for Sarah Hoffman’s unfilled Ward G seat on the Edmonton Public School Board. Hoffman left the board after being elected to provincial office. Hoffman’s former seat was won by Bridget Stirling.
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