Familiar faces in the running

Jon Lord, a former councillor and MLA, is running for mayor against Nenshi this October. He says that he has lots of support against the popular sitting mayor.

The deadline has passed for those looking to start or continue their political career, and the field of candidates looking to join Calgary's City Council contains more than a few familiar faces.

Mayor Naheed Nenshi will even see some competition next month from Jon Lord, a former councilor who has run for mayor before.

Lord has served on city council for two terms and also spent tiem as an MLA.

He is undaunted by the popularity of Mayor Nenshi, and thinks he can make an impact in the race. "I don't know how popular he will be when the tax bills come in next year and people don't have the credit on their bill for the hundreds and in the case of businesses, thousands of dollars that they're not going to be getting now. I think his popularity might wane very quickly in the face of the many challenges that the city is facing."

Lord says he is extremely pleased with the amount of support he's received in the days leading up to the nomination.

Joe Connelly, who served on the council two terms ago, also filed his nomination papers on Monday.

He says he is anxious to get back in the game and will be running in Ward 6.

An unofficial list was released on Monday afternoon and candidates will have 24 hours to drop out.

The official list of who will be running for city council and both school boards will be released on Tuesday.