Big names to battle for city riding

Party leader, incumbent minister, broadcaster eye Calgary-Mountain View

Voters in Calgary-Mountain View will be asked to choose from a crowded field of well-known candidates when they cast their ballots in next spring’s provincial election, as a party leader, incumbent minister and well-known broadcaster all vie for the same seat in the Alberta legislature.

Angela Kokott, who spent nearly two decades at Global Calgary and retired in August after eight years hosting an afternoon talk show on 770 CHQR, announced Thursday she’ll be running for the Alberta Party to represent the constituency in 2019.

She joins Liberal Leader David Khan and Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley, who currently represents Calgary-Buffalo for the NDP, who are also running in the riding.

Former Liberal leader David Swann, who isn’t seeking re-election, has held the seat since 2004.

Kokott said she decided to run because Alberta “doesn’t have enough of a centrist voice.” But she said it would “definitely” be a challenge running against two high-profile candidates.

“I can’t take anything for granted and I know why the big names are coming here,” Kokott said, adding she’s lived in the riding for three decades. “I think a lot of people in our constituency liked David Swann. I think, sadly, the Liberal party has always had a hard time with its brand in Alberta. It’s going to be different.”

Ganley said the riding has been well-represented by Swann, but she wasn’t worried about it staying red.

“Certainly, the Liberal leader is running there so that is … another progressive,” she said. “I guess there are some other options but I think the people of Mountain View have a clear choice in who they want to govern this province.”

Finance Minister Joe Ceci, whose current constituency of Calgary-Fort was eliminated amid redrawn electoral boundaries, will run in Calgary-Buffalo, causing Ganley to shift her focus to Mountain View next year.

Ganley noted that she and Khan have a history of squaring off. Ganley defeated Khan in the 2015 Calgary-Buffalo election.

“I know him well. I think we did well in the last election,” Ganley said. “There was no ugliness. I think we ran based on vision for the future, based on positive politics, and so I anticipate that will be the case again.”

But this time, Khan said, the race is “mine to win.”

“We know how that turned out, everybody voted NDP, but I think it was just largely a protest vote,” he said of their previous contest. “The NDP’s never had a very deep connection to Calgary … It’s also not the riding she’s the sitting MLA for, so she’s brand new to that. She doesn’t have a very high profile.”

The Liberal leader said he wasn’t concerned about his Alberta Party opponent either.

“Angela’s had a good, respected career in the media. She’s not very well known in politics,” Khan said. “She’s had a good career but she’s running for a party that’s really another conservative party.”

Meanwhile, four contestants are seeking the UCP nomination in Calgary-Mountain View, but UCP executive director Janice Harrington said last month that a nomination date hadn’t yet been set. The party ’s Calgary-Mountain View constituency association is holding a Meet the Contestants Open House event on Tuesday.

Green party candidate Thana Boonlert is also running in the riding next year.

“That’s going to be a very tough place for the UCP to win,” said Mount Royal University political scientist Duane Bratt.

“It is possible that a UCP candidate could win, simply on massive vote splitting, but this is a progressive riding … That’s where Angela Kokott’s appearance makes it a bit more interesting because if there is a split between the Liberals and the NDP and she is able to acquire support amongst Conservatives who may not like the UCP, they may drift to the Alberta Party.”

Bratt said he’s never seen so many big names all vying for the same seat. He said Swann has held onto the riding for so many years thanks to his own reputation, more so than the Liberal brand.

“This will be a test of that. Does that translate into David Khan?” he said. “This is why I think Kathleen Ganley was moved into this riding, because I think the NDP believed that they can flip this, with the absence of David Swann.

“It is wide open.”

I think the NDP believed that they can flip this, with the absence of David Swann.