Calgary civic election: Mayoral candidates debate | The ‘other four’ mayoral candidates | Surrounding community nominations​on September 25, 2025 at 2:00 am

“How can I really get my voice heard, or get working-class people’s voices heard, if I can’t get on the debate stage?” he said.

Exclusion from a debate is indicative of the challenges faced by a candidate like Prior, who enters this year’s mayoral race as a long-shot or outsider candidate.

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— Scott Strasser

The race for Airdrie’s top political job is the busiest mayoral contest among the fast-growing communities surrounding Calgary.

Seven hopefuls are vying for the spot held for the past 15 years by Mayor Peter Brown, who announced earlier this month he wouldn’t seek re-election in the city of nearly 90,000 just north of Calgary.

That field more than doubled in the last week leading up to Monday’s nomination deadline for next month’s municipal elections and includes councillors Tina Petrow and Heather Spearman.

“More than 40 per cent of our roads are in complete disrepair — meaning they need to be ripped up and redone. This is a staggering number that is proof of a broken city council that has been in-fighting and incapable of getting the job done,” Davison said in a news release.

His transportation plan includes implementing “Uber-like” technology-driven solutions using geo-tagged photos to accelerate pothole repair.

He also vows to improve co-ordination for road construction to avoid extended, multiple repairs at the same location, as has been experienced downtown and in Marda Loop.

To improve traffic flow, Davison touts better traffic light synchronization, plus the construction of interchanges on Sarcee Trail S.W. at Bow Trail and Richmond Road. He also flagged Crowchild Trail between the University of Calgary and Kensington Road as another problem area.

As of Monday morning, Elections Calgary said 121 candidates had submitted nomination papers, including nine running for mayor. The last civic vote, in 2021, counted more than 180 candidates, including 26 for mayor.

Nominated candidates have until noon Tuesday to withdraw from the race.

— Postmedia

Calgarians likely won’t know who their next city councillor or school board trustees are until the day after the Oct. 20 municipal election, an Elections Calgary official said Friday.

Provincial legislative changes introduced in 2024 through Bill 20 prohibit the use of electronic tabulators (vote-counting machines), meaning election workers will have to count and double-check each ballot by hand.That means tallying more than 1.3 million expected ballots will take much longer than it did in the last election, said Kate Martin, the city’s returning officer.

That’s a far cry from the seven registered groups that were active in the 2021 vote, when prominent TPAs shaped the race by splashing ads in various forms across the city and backing slates of candidates.

A complicating factor in this year’s election cycle is the introduction of political parties at the municipal level. Candidates can now receive campaign donations through political parties, offering a more flexible route for contributors that was not previously available.

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— Brett Nichols

Calgarians are entering the homestretch to when they will vote for their next city council and school board trustees.

Given the introduction of political parties and several provincially imposed legislative changes outlining campaign and donation rules, the Oct. 20 vote will present many changes for voters.

Here’s what we know about October’s civic election.

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— Scott Strasser