Edmonton-Strathcona‘s Green Party candidate Michael Kalmanovitch announced Wednesday that he is ceasing his campaign, and hopes that Green Party voters in the riding will support the NDP.
On Kalmanovitch’s official campaign Facebook page, his team posted a statement:
“Green Candidate Michael Kalmanovitch has ended his campaign as of 1 p.m. today,” the statement said in part.
“It looks like Michael is not going to win so he is doing the second best thing and ceasing his campaign.”
The statement directly tags NDP candidate Heather McPherson and suggests those who would have supported Kalmanovitch put their votes to McPherson.
The Green Party sent out an official notice Wednesday afternoon that Kalmanovich has been removed as a candidate and is no longer a member of the party.
Elections Canada said that any votes cast for Kalmanovich in advance polls will be considered void.
LISTEN BELOW: Michael Kalmanovitch joins the Ryan Jespersen Show on 630 CHED
The cutoff date for candidates to officially withdraw from the election was Sept. 30.
The ballots have also already been printed, meaning while he will remain on the official ballot on Oct. 21, any votes cast for him on Election Day will also be void.
Heather McPherson responded to Wednesday’s announcement with a statement:
“I appreciate Mr. Kalmanovitch’s support,” the statement said. “People are seeing that we are committed to getting things done and that only the NDP can stop the Conservatives in Edmonton Strathcona.”
Edmonton-Strathcona has remained a NDP stronghold since Linda Duncan was first elected in 2008.
Duncan announced she would not be seeking re-election last year.
In the 2015 election, Duncan won with 24,446 votes. Conservative candidate Len Thom came in second with 17,395, while Liberal Eleanor Olszewski received 11,524. Jacob K. Binnema of the Green party received 1,278, or 2.3% of the votes in the riding.