Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi’s decision to not run again in the upcoming civic election, regardless of the outcome of the current federal race, has shaken up the roster of candidates.
Last fall, longtime councillor Andrew Knack announced he’d be stepping away from municipal politics, saying the time has come for new representation in his ward.
But since Sohi announced this past weekend he is running for the federal Liberals in Edmonton-Southeast and won’t seek re-election with the city, the councillor for Nakota Isga in west Edmonton says he has been getting requests to run for the city’s top job.
“It’s something that in the last five, six days, you know, I heard all the same rumours everyone else did. I started getting a few calls and emails and texts from people saying, ‘Hey, are you thinking of doing this?’”
Knack said he is seriously considering the move but cautioned it’s very early days and his mind is not yet made up
“I’ll admit that’s fairly humbling to have people reach out and ask that question, but you can’t rush a decision like this,” he said.
“A week ago, I had no thought that this could even be something that would be on the table — but now I want to take the time.”
Running a mayoral campaign isn’t a one-man job and Knack said he’s going to take a few weeks to respond to the calls and messages of support, talk to some Edmontonians and go from there.
“I love municipal politics. It’s been my passion. It’s been everything I could have ever hoped for — and if folks believe there’s an opportunity or a role that I can play to help serve best all of Edmontonians, I’ll certainly consider it,” he said.
“But we’re at the very beginning stage of consideration at this point.”
Other recognizable names gunning for the mayor’s job right now include fellow city councillor Tim Cartmell. He said he decided to run for mayor two years ago and Sohi’s departure doesn’t change his campaign.
“I’m really not focused on who else might be running, or what other people are doing. I’m concentrating on trying to get my message to as many people as I can,” Cartmell said.
“I think my combination of experiences on city hall and my experiences in the private sector, and my education and skill set is just the best to take us forward.”
Another notable name running for mayor in Edmonton: former city councillor Tony Caterina, who was first elected in 2007. In 2021, Caterina changed wards and ran in ward O-day’min, where he lost to Anne Stevenson. He was ill on Tuesday and unavailable for comment.
Crestview Strategy vice-president and campaign strategist Mandi Johnson said Sohi’s absence will make a difference in the Edmonton election, as candidates and parties won’t be able to use an incumbent as a way to differentiate themselves.
“There will have to be a bit of a pivot. We will have to look at what candidates will have to offer at face value,” she said, adding it was the same situation in the last municipal election when Don Iveson didn’t run again, leading to nearly a dozen people vying for the mayor’s seat.
“I think we’re going to see a completely different race either way,” she said. “We have new regulations and laws at the provincial level that are going to regulate this upcoming municipal election. We’re going to see corporate donations back on the table for candidates. We’re going to see political parties and slates being run.
“So it’s going to be a lot different of a race overall, with or without Mayor Sohi in.”
This year’s municipal election in Edmonton will allow political parties, after the Alberta government changes the law.
One of those parties, the Principled Accountable Coalition for Edmonton (also known as PACE) said it hasn’t selected a mayoral candidate but the group’s VP of communications, Doug Main, said PACE could be open to doing so — but adds it will focus on councillors first.
“If we can get a majority on council who think like we do, who believe that value for taxes, safe communities, open for business, being accountable and all the things that PACE is advocating for — that’s the most important thing, is to get a majority on council,” Main said.
PACE is a merger between Principled Accountable Coalition for Edmonton (PACE) and Transparent and Active Partnerships Edmonton/TAPYeg, two separate entities that joined together in the fall of 2024.
Cartmell said his team is also putting together a slate of candidates to run as a team, although that work is still in progress and no names have been announced.
“That work is progressing and my individual mayor campaign is progressing quite well,” Cartmell said on Tuesday.
MacEwan University political scientist Chaldeans Mensah said most of the existing mayoral candidates — such as Cartmell — lean centre-right politically, and for a healthy race there needs to be someone on the other side of the spectrum.
“We do need a very strong centre-left candidate and it looks like the forces in Edmonton that are very progressive have to come up with a candidate in the mould of a Mayor Sohi, to contest against a very strong candidate on the centre right, who is Tim Cartmell,” Mensah said.
Both Knack and Cartmell are veterans on city council: Knack was first elected to council in 2013 and has represented his west Edmonton ward ever since; Cartmell has been representing the southwest Edmonton Ward of pihêsiwin since 2017.
“Cartmell is a very experienced city councillor and I think he’s presenting himself as a fiscal conservative and also a socially liberal. So we’ll see whether he can appeal to Edmontonians,” Mensah said.
With the municipal election seven months away, experts say to expect more changes, as decisions from one election seem to be affecting Edmonton’s next one.
The nomination period runs until Sept. 22. The municipal election will take place on Oct. 20.