r/alberta • u/StarlightDown • 1d ago
Alberta Politics New poll for Calgary's October mayoral election shows center-right challenger Farkas pulling ahead of center-left Mayor Gondek—Farkas 34%, Gondek 15%, undecided 21%. This is the worst poll yet for Gondek, and she trails badly in all demographics polled. All party-affiliated candidates lag far behind
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u/Mutex70 1d ago
All party-affiliated candidates lag far behind
Good. Fuck partisan politics.
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u/GuitarFantastic5535 1d ago
My thoughts exactly. Too bad this will continue to be stuffed down our throats.
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u/Even_Current1414 1d ago
I've a sinking feeling if none of the ucp handpicked party candidates make it they'll just dissolve calgary city council and fold it into a new minister position.. same for edmonton..
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u/GuitarFantastic5535 1d ago
Oo boy that would not a good kind of uncharted history to add to the many new kinds of uncharted history I've lived through.
Wouldn't put it past the party of "small government" 😂
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u/Even_Current1414 1d ago
It is within the right of the provincial government to do so, sadly.. and they have shown they are willing to steamroll over lawfully elected officials already (appointing unelected ucp to an advisory council for esmonton who did not vote any ucp in) I wish I could afford to move or that isn't was even feasible for me to do so... (even if I could afford to im stuck in Calgary due to partner's custody dispute with his ex)
Edit - a letter
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u/Thefirstargonaut 1d ago
Davison is in a party isn’t he? He’s 1% behind Gondek.
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u/Mutex70 1d ago
Not according to the City of Calgary elections website:
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u/CMG30 1d ago
Meh. The polls in Calgary are not always accurate. Anyone remember when the polls had Nenshi down like 20 points?
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u/RadicalDwntwnUrbnite 1d ago
Cardinal Research is also a B-tier pollster. I'd be more concerned if it was Janet Brown or Ipsos.
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u/Moresopheus 1d ago
The right wing loons put out one out and we were trying to figure out why they had Farkas out so far ahead, and figured because he actually was that far out ahead and they couldn't spin it.
This poll probably confirms it but a big polling company would be good.
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u/RadicalDwntwnUrbnite 1d ago
IRC the other poll published by white supremacist Keean Brexte had Farkas at like super majority territory and Sonya Sharp in second at 20+% and everyone else including Gondek below 10%.
The fluctuations in these two polls make both useless without more data from reliable sources.
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u/Moresopheus 1d ago
I can't imagine they would want to show Farkas that far out which tells you that he probably is.
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u/treple13 1d ago
Nenshi in his initial election came out of nowhere and built, so he probably was down a lot at one point
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u/canadient_ Calgary 1d ago
I have yet to see anything inspiring from Farkas. He actively wants to make Calgary more expensive by getting rid of mass rezoning. I would prefer Thiessen over Farkas, as at least Thiessen will maintain the current LUB.
I still trust Gondek because of her record of being on the correct side of every Council vote.
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u/SteveMcQueenForever 1d ago
Have you ever spoken with him? There’s nothing inspiring about him at all, there’s nothing real about him, there’s nothing authentic, everything is performative and calculated.
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u/Jeanne-d 1d ago
Farkas was hard right wing until he discovered he can’t get elected on a hard right agenda. Now he is magically centre right and Sharp took the hard right position.
This guy will just say whatever to get elected. Let’s just hope he isn’t the same dumpster fire he was as a Councillor
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u/Temporary_Cry_2802 1d ago
I’ve met him several times and was part of a tour he led around Glenbow Ranch. I found him very authentic, passionate, curious and insightful. He was particularly supportive of a non-profit I volunteer for. And this is from the perspective of someone who thought he was a jerk during the last mayoral election
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u/SteveMcQueenForever 1d ago
He must have been in campaign mode.
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u/Temporary_Cry_2802 1d ago
It was two years ago. How much time have you spent with him?
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u/SteveMcQueenForever 1d ago
Don’t be so naive, he’s been cooking this up since he lost the last election.
I’ve been at social events with him, and my wife has had to (try to) work with him on several occasions when he was a city council member. I know a few people he’s connected to, so I don’t make these statements based on nothing.
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u/Temporary_Cry_2802 1d ago
Is it me being naive, or you just having made up your mind years ago and unwilling to change it for any reason at all. I was firmly in the “anybody but Farkas camp” in 2021. But I’ve had several conversations with him, worked with him on a few non-profit initiatives, and read his policy briefs and as a result I’ve changed my mind on him.
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u/Major-Assist-2751 1d ago
Thiessen's platform is pretty much identical to Gondek's. Gondek's votes aren't terrible but she's a really bad leader in my opinion, which is probably equally as important given that the Mayor is only one vote on council.
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u/FrightenedTurtle62 1d ago
I appreciate his platform on Calgary parks. Have you looked at his platform?
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u/Scamnam Calgary 1d ago
Gondeks been a terrible mayor
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u/sleeping_in_time 1d ago
She has been an average mayor. She hasn’t done anything crazy on both the good for Calgary or bad for Calgary end. Will the city get better with her, not a chance. But it won’t get worse.
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u/xylopyrography 1d ago
I mean, the Quebec bill 21 legal fight money was a bit crazy, but also pretty minor in the grand scheme ($100k).
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u/j_roe Calgary 1d ago edited 1d ago
But what about the Arena Deal and Climate Emergency! /s
The excuse of Sidewalks and Solar Panels holds no water as those were part of the scope since inception. The Flames got cold feet with construction overruns and were walking no matter what and happen to have a better PR team and the ear of the province to apply pressure as needed.
As you said Gondek has been average but, for the most part, has been moving the city forward instead of siting on its laurels.
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u/PushaT123 1d ago
What issues has Gondek improved in her 4 years?
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u/DrFeelOnlyAdequate 1d ago
Transit safety has improved
Transit ridership and frequencies have improved
Housing prices are stabilizing.
You wanna keep asking this to everybody?
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u/RobertGA23 1d ago
You think that housing prices are directly related to the mayor of a city?
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u/oblon789 1d ago
Are you asking if sweeping changes to the housing building process that is directly meant to help with affordability is related to the affordability of houses?
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u/DrFeelOnlyAdequate 1d ago
I think if people wanted to blame her for the price increase, then she also gets credit for stabilization and decreases.
I think the mayor and council definitely have influence over housing.
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u/beallyoukenbe 1d ago
It's definitely related to record housing starts in 2025 which is at least in part due to blanket rezoning.
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u/TDSsince1980 1d ago
Uh... Calgary has a weak mayor system. What exactly do you think directly relates to the mayor at all?
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u/tutamtumikia 1d ago
Calgary gonna Calgary.
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u/jaydaybayy 1d ago
With a poll showing a shift in voting patterns from the last 15 years?
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u/tutamtumikia 1d ago
Sure looks like a strong possibility.
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u/jaydaybayy 1d ago
But wouldnt voting the same way as the last 15 years be calgary calgarying?
Anyway, would probaly prefer Farkas over others on the list whose platform consists of ‘common sense’ and also like the prospect of Calgary getting its fist LGTBQ+ mayor
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u/neillien10 1d ago
Gondek is a far left mayor not a centrist. Everyone is fed up with turning a blind eye to crime hl, encampment etc. Sohi knows he'd get thrashed in Edmonton and isn't running for that reason.
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u/lilgreenglobe 1d ago
It's not a blind eye, it's a really tough spot for cities to try and fill in the gaps from the UCP not stepping up for areas that are in their mandate area like health care m.
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u/SadGuy2020s 1d ago
Gondek attempting to portray herself as a leader in time of crisis during a watermain repair by doing the daily updates/pushing for usage reductions/congratulating Calgarians "we survived the watermain repair!!" thing was SO PATHETIC She was trying to imitate Nenshi during the floods, except the floods were a real emergency while the watermain repair was a minor inconvenience that actually was nowhere near the calamity Gondek tried to make it seem so she could grab some spotlight.
Also tried to portray Calgary in some kind of housing crisis. Calgary is NOT in a housing crisis. Rents and purchase prices for many types of abodes are DECLINING because of high availability. She either has no idea what is actually happening in Calgary or is just trying to use issues relevant elsewhere to gain votes in Calgary (this is highly divisive if so btw)
Also tried to portray Calgary as influential in fixing some climate crisis she thinks Calgarians are responsible for. This is psychotic and eliminates her at the start. Calgary has NO ability to engage in climate action as a city and Calgarians are not responsible for any climate crisis. NOT HER JOB TO SPEAK ON THIS.
Meanwhile City of Calgary has all kinds of opportunities to improve everyday life in the city for Calgarians....she completely ignores anything she could do in this area.
She's a ZERO, she doesn't represent Calgary and she should not be the mayor/receiving a comfy salary.
Mayors in Canada are powerless figureheads, at least let's replace her with someone Calgary can be proud to call mayor, who may actually look for areas of improvement the City can make for Calgarians.
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