Chad Krahn ran on a platform of spurring growth and keeping taxes low — and won a Red Deer city council seat in Monday’s byelection.
Krahn said he wasn’t sure until the end what the election result would be, but is “really pleased” to win a place at the table.
The constituency assistant for Red Deer South’s MLA campaigned for unlocking the city’s potential and striving for a brighter future. Krahn advocated for reining in taxes, promoting growth and supporting essential services.
“Our team worked hard to push the vision of what Red Deer could become — and we kept pushing,” said Krahn.
He was door-knocking until 6:30 p.m. on election day, encouraging residents to go to the polls and discussing the need for more home building and bringing more businesses to the city.
Krahn said his first goal as councillor will be to talk to front-line city staff about “what is the next simple thing we can do to make the city better.”
His closest competitor, Jaelene Tweedle, a member of educational boards, had gained an early lead with only a quarter of the polls counted, but was soon surpassed.
Tweedle won the support of non-partisan group Community Strong for being a solid supporter of public services, diversity, community health and growth.
The unofficial final vote count was 2,498 votes for Krahn (38.4 per cent), and 2,327 for Tweedle, (34 per cent).
Monday was Red Deer’s first-ever byelection.
“We are happy that many voters were able to access the advance voting stations last week,” said Jessica Robinson, returning officer for the City of Red Deer.
Typically there’s less voter turnout for byelections than general elections. Robinson added that the total turn-out should be known by Tuesday or Wednesday.
Just over 30 per cent of Red Deer’s 71,475 eligible voters went to the polls in the last general election in 2021 and about half of those ballots were cast in the advanced poll.
But as there were still pandemic distancing protocols in place in 2021, it’s difficult to make a comparison with the byelection of 2024, said Robinson. She noted that in 2021, the city held advanced polls for 13 days.
Other contenders in this byelection were retired police officer and former city councillor Buck Buchanan; entrepreneur Jason Chilibeck; videographer Mark Collings; former RDP instructor Linda Cullen-Saik; public school teacher Hans Huizing; mental health worker Ashley MacDonald, building inspector Liam Milaney, and construction worker/community builder Calvin Yzerman.
The byelection was called to fill the council seat vacated after the death of Coun. Michael Dawe.
