Knack elected mayor of Edmonton

Andrew Knack is Edmonton's new mayor elect. His main rival, Tim Cartmell, conceded on Tuesday. CTV News Edmonton's Jeremy Thompson has the latest.

Andrew Knack will be Edmonton’s next mayor.

CTV News has declared the three-term city councillor the winner of Monday’s municipal election. Knack enjoyed a healthy lead in the mayoral race on Tuesday afternoon, capturing 38.42 per cent of voters with 71,042 ballots cast for him with 211 of 236 polls reporting.

His closest rival, Tim Cartmell, had garnered 54,518 votes, or 29.48 per cent. Cartmell conceded the race at 2 p.m. on Tuesday.

Knack centred his campaign on making the city safer, more affordable and better at keeping up with population growth, planks he repeated several times as he spoke to media after his victory speech at his campaign office in Old Strathcona.

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Knack said he wants to work toward “building a responsible budget” that not only looks for efficiencies but is realistic when it comes to the city’s needs, citing investment in new fire stations, roadways and transit.

He said he wants to engage residents about budgeting “in a thoughtful way, but we do need to still invest in our city.”

“There is a cost to that,” Knack said. “That was always my message, that I’m going to be honest with Edmontonians about what it takes to have a great city, but we’re going to work together to find ways to make sure we’re building a responsible budget.”

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The 41-year-old Edmonton native ran for mayor as an independent candidate in the election as did 11 others. Only Cartmell was a member of a local political party among those seeking the mayor’s chair.

The provincial government made sweeping changes to the local elections act last year, allowing the establishment of political parties at the municipal level in Edmonton and Calgary.

Local parties, however, appeared unpopular among Monday’s voters. Results showed candidates from the two municipal parties in Edmonton well behind the leaders in several ward races, with four hopefuls from one party – the conservatively aligned Better Edmonton slate – leading in their races late Tuesday afternoon.

Knack told media Tuesday it was clear to him that voters rejected the idea of party politics at the municipal level, with results in Calgary – where independent candidate Jeromy Farkas won the mayoral race – mirroring those in Edmonton. He said their introduction last year was a significant reason why he chose to run for mayor.

Knack, who regularly engages with people on social media about civic matters, originally said he would step away from local politics in September last year before changing his mind this spring.

“We saw the election results loud and clear that people that ran as independents, that’s (who voters) want,” he said on Tuesday. “They want people who are going to listen to all Edmontonians. It doesn’t matter if you’re on the right or on the left or in the centre. There is no right-wing way to clear snow off the streets. There’s no left-wing way to cut our grass.

“We just have to work together as humans, and that’s what we do, and that’s what this campaign was, and I think that’s the message we’ve seen loud and clear in this election.”

Knack, who represented Ward Nakota Isga for 12 years, replaces Amarjeet Sohi in the mayor’s chair. Sohi, a former city councillor and Liberal cabinet minister who served as mayor for one term, did not seek re-election after losing a bid for federal office last spring.