Three-term city councillor Andrew Knack is Edmonton’s mayor-elect.
Fellow frontrunner Tim Cartmell conceded the race and congratulated Knack on the victory Tuesday.
Knack was able to capture more than 38 per cent of the vote as of 8:20 p.m. Tuesday, besting Cartmell, who garnered nearly 30 per cent with 91.5 per cent of polls reporting.
“This victory belongs to all of us, to every single worker, whether you build, teach, drive, fix, care, serve or create,” Knack said Tuesday.
“Thank you to our volunteers who shared their precious time, and who believe our city can and should be a beacon of kindness, hard, work and progress. This campaign was fuelled by passion, grit and tenacity every day, Edmontonians spoke loud and clear, choosing optimism and hope over big money and party politics.”
Knack, who represented the west-end Ward Nakota Isga, announced in September 2024 that he would not run in the next municipal election.
Knack changed his mind, stating that he wanted to put forward an independent voice, and leverage his track record over the last 12 years of meeting with people from across the political spectrum.
A total of 13 candidates put their name forward for mayor with other contenders including pediatric surgeon Omar Mohammad, past councillors Michael Walters and Tony Caterina and former federal MP Rahim Jaffer.
Walters was the only other candidate to garner more than 10 per cent as of 4 p.m.
A slew of new political rules injected into municipal elections in Alberta by the United Conservative Party government saw the introduction of political parties and allowing of corporate and union donations in local elections.
“We saw a very clear rejection of party politics in Edmonton right now,” Knack said also pointing to the victory of mayor-elect Jeromy Farkas in Calgary.
“We saw the election results loud and clear that people that ran as independents, that’s what people want. They want people who are going to listen to all Edmontonians.”
Cartmell was the only mayoral candidate to run under the political party banner of Better Edmonton.
“Last night didn’t turn out the way we hoped, but I can tell you this: I have never been more proud of the people standing beside me and the work we accomplished as a team over the last year,” Cartmell said in a statement Tuesday.
Former three-term councilor Andrew Knack will now represent Edmontonians in a new way after winning the mayoral race. His closest competitor was fellow former councilor Tim Cartmell. As Travis McEwan reports, Knack feels Edmontonians voted against party politics.
Cartmell was not available for interviews Tuesday but his spokesperson said he would speak to the media later in the week.
Edmonton Elections pegged unofficial voter turnout results at 30.27 per cent, with 205,758 of 679,830 eligible voters casting a ballot.
Key issues that dominated this year’s election included addressing housing and homelessness, affordability, property taxes and public safety.
Some promises that Knack campaigned on include increasing the number of day shelters and increasing the number of peace officers that partnered with social workers to move through the city’s transit system.
Knack said in his 12 years on council, he has consistently reduced the budget through individual motions he’s made. And going forward, he’s advocating to restructure the budget.
But he cautioned that it shouldn’t come at the cost of key services and he’s worried a tax freeze would come at the expense of things community members expect as the city rapidly grows.
Walters, who sat on council from 2013 to 2021, is currently in third with nearly 12 per cent of the vote.
“We’re really proud of the vision and the platform we put forward, and we hope, when the results come in, that we’re the people in this room who get to enact that vision on behalf of the City of Edmonton,” Walters told CBC for his watch party on Monday night at Mimi’s Pub.
Knack and the rest of city council will be sworn in on Oct 29.
