'2 to 1': Calgary mayor-elect Gondek will be bolstered by majority-progressive council, say pundits

Calgary city hall  watchers anticipate a more cohesive city council following Monday's vote, with many newly elected councillors sharing priorities with mayor-elect Jyoti Gondek.

One pollster estimates progressive-leaning councillors outnumber conservative-leaning candidates by roughly two to one, and others see an opportunity for Gondek to quickly push forward on key priorities such as COVID-19 response and infrastructure investments.

"What I think it is for mayor-elect Gondek, is a great starting point," campaign strategist Zain Velji told CBC Calgary's News at 11.

"She's got six to seven solid votes on most things she wants and if she runs her office like a political office she can sway three to five more."

Velji previously worked on Naheed Neshi's campaign.

Looking at those leading or elected, it's clear this council will also have more women and candidates who are BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of colour) than recent councils. It has only three incumbents but the mayor and two new councillors have previous council experience. 

CBC News talked with with several community leaders, strategists and pundits as the final votes were counted. Here's what they had to say.

There are no party affiliations in municipal politics. But based on each winner's platforms and endorsements, pollster Janet Brown says she sees a fairly left-leaning council.  

"On balance, I think we've got more progressive councillors than we do conservative councillors, maybe by a two-to-one margin," said Brown. "That will be good very news for Gondek because this will be an easier council for her to wrangle and get on side with her priorities."

Gondek won with more support than any of the polls predicted. She had 45 per cent of the vote with 256 of 259 polls reporting. But that didn't surprise Brown.

"As soon as the results started coming in, I sort of laughed at myself and I thought: 'You know, this happens election after election.' We think it's going to be a close race ... but Calgary doesn't really have a history of electing conservative mayors."

The political action group Lead Calgary endorsed candidates whose platforms prioritized cutting property taxes and restoring fiscal responsibility. That includes winners Dan McLean (Ward 13), Peter Demong (Ward 14), Andre Chabot (Ward 10), Terry Wong (Ward 7) and Sean Chu (Ward 4).

It will be a mixed council that represents the political diversity of Calgary, added Velji, saying the actual vote split will likely shift from issue to issue. But Gondek is also hard to paint as either right or left.

"We really don't know how she lands on certain things."