Skip to content

Renaud topples Horne for NDP nomination

St. Albert MLA Marie Renaud has beat Spruce Grove-St. Albert MLA Trevor Horne in the race for St. Albert's NDP nomination. Renaud and Horne squared off Wednesday night for the newly drawn St. Albert riding.
Renaud

St. Albert MLA Marie Renaud has beat Spruce Grove-St. Albert MLA Trevor Horne in the race for St. Albert's NDP nomination.

Renaud and Horne squared off Wednesday night for the newly drawn St. Albert riding. Renaud will now represent the NDP in the 2019 provincial election.

More than 150 NDP members came out to vote at the St. Albert Curling Club.

Renaud, who spent 14 years as the executive director of the LoSeCa Foundation serving persons with disabilities, said she was thrilled with the turnout and to be selected to represent the riding again. 

“We will have dinner and celebrate tonight, and then tomorrow we start again,” Renaud said. 

Horne said he has not ruled out running in another riding at this point and will continue to consider his options.

The NDP nomination for the Morinville-St. Albert riding has not taken place yet. Shawna Gawreluck is currently the only declared candidate for that riding. Gawreluck was the NDP candidate in Sturgeon River—Parkland in the 2017 federal by-election where she eventually lost to conservative candidate Dane Lloyd.

Regarding Wednesday night's vote, both Horne and Renaud said while it was not ideal to face off against an incumbent, it was part of the democratic process. 

“Democracy is sometimes a little bit messy,” Renaud said. 

Horne said he decided to run in the St. Albert riding after his current riding was chopped up and redrawn when the Electoral Boundaries Commission rejigged ridings across the province.

In the end, Horne decided he wanted to run in the constituency that he grew up in and currently lives in.

This is the first riding in the province this election cycle where an incumbent NDP MLA was challenged for their nomination. Renaud will now face off against candidates from other parties when the election itself rolls around.

Renaud said her team sold around 200 memberships during the nomination race, noting that last time she was nominated there were only around 50 people in the room.

The St. Albert MLA said she has been door-knocking all year long but did ramp things up a bit during the nomination. 

“Our focus isn't going to change at all,” she said. 

Renaud said she has been hearing on the doorsteps residents are primarily concerned about Ray Gibbon Drive, which the City of St. Albert has for the first time earmarked money in 2019 toward twinning.

Both MLAs were first nominated in 2015, with Renaud beating incumbent Stephen Khan from the PC Party and Horne earning his seat in the Spruce Grove-St. Albert riding formerly held by Doug Horner from the PC party.

Renaud will now square off against Jeff Wedman, who was selected by the UCP in November to represent St. Albert.


Jennifer Henderson

About the Author: Jennifer Henderson

Jennifer Henderson is the editor of the St. Albert Gazette and has been with Great West Media since 2015
Read more



push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks