EDSON, Alta. – An Alberta man who became a YouTube sensation for enthusiastically singing the song “Bohemian Rhapsody” from the back seat of a police car is going into politics.
Robert Wilkinson is running for mayor of Edson, a town west of Edmonton. According to town officials, he is the only candidate going up against Edson’s incumbent mayor, Greg Pasychny, who is seeking his third term.
“He’s brought media attention to our community for our elections, which we wouldn’t normally get,” Pasychny told Global News. “I’m just hoping people can see the positive side.”
The town says Wilkinson submitted the necessary five signatures from residents along with his nomination papers to register as a candidate.
Wilkinson was convicted of impaired driving last November, fined $1,400 and prohibited from driving for one year.
The RCMP video of him singing the Queen rock anthem went viral, amassing more than 10 million hits.
At the time Wilkinson said he received $1,000 from the American cable network TrueTV so it could air the video on its show World’s Dumbest Criminals.
Pasychny says he was surprised to hear that Wilkinson is running, but welcomes the competition. He was acclaimed in the last two elections.
“It’s good. I think mayors races are excellent and helpfully it draws as much people out to the polls. We have an exciting campaign going on in this town. We have 11 running for council and two running for mayor. So it should be exciting this fall.”
Pasychny isn’t concerned about how the video’s popularity could impact the election.
“As far as the YouTube thing goes, it’s more of a detriment to him than it is to me. At the end of the day the mayor of your community has to represent the community and the people inside of it, so, as far as the person running for mayor, that to me is more of an advantage to me than it is a disadvantage.”
“Mr. Wilkinson is challenging me,” he adds. “But his notoriety – I don’t see that as an asset to this town or to somebody who represents this town.”
With files from The Canadian Press
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