Latest news with #Luhnau
Calgary Herald
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Calgary Herald
'Behemoth of Conservative support:' Why Liberals' hoped-for breakthrough in Calgary fizzled
Their campaign did all the right things but ran into a brick wall fortifying Calgary's Conservative fortress, said the campaign manager for Calagary Centre Liberal candidate Linsday Luhnau. Article content Article content It's a sentiment shared by non-Tory candidates, particularly Liberal, whose efforts failed to breach that bastion to realize a much-discussed breakthrough in the city, with four seats supposedly at play. Article content Article content When the dust from Monday's federal election cleared, the Liberals were left with one seat, a status they carried into the contest and their one sitting MP – George Chahal – was defeated. Article content Article content 'Calgary is such a massive behemoth of Conservative support and voters view Conservatives as the home team,' said Hannah Wilson, campaign manager for Lindsay Luhnau, who went down to defeat at the hands of Calgary Centre incumbent Greg McLean. Article content The riding, along with Skyview, McKnight and Confederation, were widely considered fertile for Liberal success among the 11 Calgary constituencies, but in the end, only the latter one fell into the Grit camp, and narrowly at that. Article content Wilson said she's convinced Luhnau and her team ran a top-notch campaign and encountered encouraging signs along the way, including a receptive doorstep audience, an excited volunteer group and motivated Liberal voter base. Article content Article content Article content But that campaign got on its feet five days after the writ was dropped and against a well-established incumbent meant 'we were always playing catch-up.' Article content Luhnau, did well among advance voters, she said but some of the election day locales, such as Inglewood, proved more Conservative-leaning than expected. Article content 'A lot of voters felt left out (by the Liberal government) and that was hard to overcome – I don't think it was Lindsay herself,' she said. Article content Liberal leader Carney, she said, might not have communicated his pro-energy stance clearly enough, added Wilson.
Calgary Herald
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Calgary Herald
Liberal hopes for breakthrough in Calgary appear to fall short
Liberal hopes of a breakthrough in the Tory bastion of Calgary Monday night appeared unlikely to materialize late Monday night, with the party's hopes of expanding their base beyond one seat in the city in doubt. Article content Article content The highest hopes for the Liberals among the 11 city seats were the four ridings of Calgary Skyview, Confederation, McKnight and Centre. In the latter contest, Liberal contender Lindsay Luhnau dueled throughout the evening with Conservative incumbent Greg McLean before later falling well behind. Article content Article content Late in the evening, Conservative hopeful in Calgary Confederation, Jeremy Nixon, was locked in a seesaw battle with Liberal Corey Hogan, who took a late lead and appeared to be the only Liberal possibly headed for victory in the city. Article content Article content Meanwhile, in Calgary McKnight, incumbent MP George Chahal — who had been the sole Grit incumbent in the city — had fallen considerably behind Conservative Dalwinder Gill as the evening wore on. Article content At Chahal's camp in the northeast, a large crowd of supporters gathered under a tent in a parking lot and nonetheless erupted in cheers as more results came in. Article content Despite the apparent setback, Luhnau said she'd been pleasantly surprised by the reception at doorsteps during the campaign. Article content 'I was expecting really hard conversations, being yelled at, but it's been a very heartening campaign,' said Luhnau, adding she met many people who committed to voting Liberal for the first time. Article content Article content 'The organic growth of our volunteer contingent was amazing; not just the same faces again, I met a lot of new people which was a good sign.' Article content But the Liberal said she knew the result would 'come down to a couple of hundred votes.' Article content Some of those new Liberal voters, she said, were those who once identified themselves with the Progressive Conservative Party, which morphed into the Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. Article content Luhnau said Calgary voters are no different from others in Canada in being influenced by the threat posed by U.S. President Donald Trump and the arrival of former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney. Article content 'That momentum was happening before the election — this isn't about me, it's about Carney,' said Luhnau.
Edmonton Journal
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Edmonton Journal
Liberal hopes for breakthrough in Calgary appears to fall short
Article content 'The organic growth of our volunteer contingent was amazing, not just the same faces again, I met a lot of new people which was a good sign.' But the Liberal said she knew the result would 'come down to a couple of hundred votes.' Some of those new Liberal voters, she said, were those who once identified themselves with the Progressive Conservative Party which morphed into the Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. Luhnau said Calgary voters are no different from others in Canada in being influenced by the threat posed by U.S. President Donald Trump and the arrival of former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney. 'That momentum was happening before the election — this isn't about me, it's about Carney,' said Luhnau. In Calgary Skyview, Conservative Amanpreet Gill's lead over Grit hopeful Hafeez Malik lengthened as more voting results poured in while Tory dominance throughout the rest of the city was never in doubt.
Calgary Herald
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Calgary Herald
Liberal hopes for breakthrough in Calgary appears to fall short
Liberals hopes of a breakthrough in the Tory bastion of Calgary Monday night appeared stillborn late Monday night with the party's hopes of expanding their base beyond one seat in the city in doubt. Article content Article content The highest hopes for the Liberals among the 11 city seats were the four ridings of Calgary Skyview, Confederation, McKnight and Centre. In the latter contest, Liberal contender Lindsay Luhnau dueled throughout the evening with Conservative incumbent Greg McLean before later falling well behind. Article content Article content Late in the evening, Conservative hopeful in Calgary Confederation, Jeremy Nixon, was locked in a seesaw battle with Liberal Corey Hogan, who took a late lead and appeared to be the only Liberal possibly headed for victory in the city. Article content Article content Meanwhile in Calgary McKnight, incumbent MP George Chahal who had been the sole Grit incumbent in the city had fallen considerably behind Conservative Dalwinder Gill as the evening wore on. Article content Despite the apparent setback, Luhnau said she'd been pleasantly surprised by the reception at doorsteps during the campaign. Article content 'I was expecting really hard conversations, being yelled at but it's been a very heartening campaign,' said Luhnau, adding she met many people who committed to voting Liberal for the first time. Article content Article content 'The organic growth of our volunteer contingent was amazing, not just the same faces again, I met a lot of new people which was a good sign.' Article content But the Liberal said she knew the result would 'come down to a couple of hundred votes.' Article content Some of those new Liberal voters, she said, were those who once identified themselves with the Progressive Conservative Party which morphed into the Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. Article content Luhnau said Calgary voters are no different from others in Canada in being influenced by the threat posed by U.S. President Donald Trump and the arrival of former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney. Article content 'That momentum was happening before the election — this isn't about me, it's about Carney,' said Luhnau.
Calgary Herald
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Calgary Herald
Calgary remains staunchly Conservative but voters possibly add more red to electoral map
Liberals were struggling to make a breakthrough in the Tory bastion of Calgary Monday night with the party's hopes of expanding their base of one seat in the city hanging in the balance. Article content The best results for the Liberals among the 11 seats of Calgary Skyview, Confederation, McKnight and Centre was in the latter race with Liberal Lindsay Luhnau holding a slim edge over Conservative incumbent Greg McLean as of 9:30 p.m. Article content Article content 'I was expecting really hard conversations, being yelled at but it's been a very heartening campaign,' said Luhnau, adding she met many people who committed to voting Liberal for the first time. Article content 'The organic growth of our volunteer contingent was amazing, not just the same faces again, I met a lot of new people which was a good sign.' Article content Some of those new Liberal voters, she said, were those who once identified themselves with the Progressive Conservative Party which morphed into the Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. Article content Luhnau said Calgary voters are no different from others in Canada in being influenced by the threat posed by U.S. President Donald Trump and the arrival of former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney. Article content Article content 'That momentum was happening before the election — this isn't about me, it's about Carney,' said Luhnau. Article content Conservative hopeful in Calgary Confederation, Jeremy Nixon, was trailing Liberal Corey Hogan while in Calgary McKnight, incumbent MP George Chahal was locked in a seesaw battle with Conservative Dalwinder Gill at press time, with the Tory was holding a slim lead. Article content In Calgary Skyview, voting results were slow to materialize, though Conservative Amanpreet Gill was leading Grit hopeful Hafeez Malik.
