ndp victory in calgary-acadia confirmed by judicial recount
former justice minister tyler shandro was officially defeated by the ndp's diana batten after two recounts
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election signs in the calgary-acadia riding were photographed on the morning after the provincial election, tuesday, may 30, 2023. the ndp's diana batten narrowly defeated the ucp's tyler shandro.
gavin young
/
postmedia
calgary-acadia is staying orange. ucp incumbent and former justice minister tyler shandro’s filing for a judicial recount did not change the election day result, and after two total recounts, he issued a concession statement to ndp mla diana batten on his twitter account on friday afternoon.
“i want to congratulate diana batten on her victory in calgary-acadia. her supporters and her campaign also deserve congratulations,” he tweeted. “i hope that the new legislature, including mlas from both the ucp and ndp, will be successful in guiding our province.”
batten won the seat on election day on may 29 by seven votes. the narrow victory initiated an automatic recount, which widened the gap to 25 votes. the election was made official on june 8, but shandro had eight days to file for a judicial recount, which he did on june 14. the final count on friday was batten 10,959 votes to 10,937 votes for shandro.
“i’m extremely grateful for this support from the people of calgary-acadia. i also want to thank my team, volunteers, and friends and family who supported me throughout the campaign,” batten wrote in a press release.
“i can’t wait to get to work representing the people of calgary-acadia and advocating for what matters to them — fixing our health-care system, lowering their costs, and creating good-paying jobs.”
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this was the second judicial recount the ucp lost in this election with whitney issik failing in her bid to hold onto calgary-glenmore, which was won by the ndp’s nagwan al-guneid and confirmed on june 21. al-guneid won the seat by 30 votes on election night, which triggered an automatic recount and the lead increased to 42. issik also filed for a judicial recount on june 14.
the result leaves the ucp with a 48-38 majority in the legislature, but the ndp now are the largest opposition party in the province’s history.
meanwhile, the ndp launched a petition to allow for albertans to register their unhappiness with the ucp’s jason stephan — who was re-elected in red deer-south — after he skipped out on the swearing-in ceremony on june 19 and 20 for a previously planned out-of-province family trip.
“red deer needs representation more than their mla needs a four-month vacation,” said alberta ndp edmonton-mill woods mla christina gray in a press release. “since he’s clearly not interested in listening to his constituents, we will be giving the people of red deer-south — and all albertans for that matter — a chance to sign our petition and send a message to stephan for failing to show up for work.”
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the ucp told media on thursday that he would be sworn in when the legislature returns in the fall.
— with files by michael rodriguez, postmedia
twitter: @joshaldrich03
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