Glasgo looking forward to campaign

By Gillian Slade on July 19, 2018.

gslade@medicinehatnews.com  @MHNGillianSlade

Securing the majority of 803 votes, Michaela Glasgo is now the United Conservative Party candidate in the Brooks-Medicine Hat riding.

“I don’t know if it has really sunk in yet,” Glasgo said on Wednesday morning.

Of about 43,000 people in the riding, a total of 2,300 are members of the UCP, said Glasgo, who declined to comment on how many party memberships she’d sold during the campaign.

The UCP declined to say how many of the 803 ballots were cast in Brooks on Monday, in Medicine Hat on Tuesday, and what percentage of the votes were for Glasgo.

Even people who had not voted for Glasgo have, since the voting result was announced, reached out to express their support for her, she says.

“That’s really inspiring … it shows that we are a united team. We all have one goal,” said Glasgo.

Jason Kenney, leader of the UCP, issued the following statement.

“I would like to congratulate Michaela Glasgo on her nomination as the United Conservative candidate in Brooks-Medicine Hat.

“Michaela is a bright, talented young conservative that has spent much of her life working to advance strong conservative values in her hometown of Medicine Hat and beyond. Michaela is part of a new generation of leadership that is working hard to restore the Alberta Advantage and get our province back on track.”

Glasgo attracted attention during the campaign in part because of the number of endorsements from other politicians (about 12) that she garnered. She had already worked closely with a number of politicians in many ways and some had commented on how well she was suited to the position as UCP candidate. Some of them contacted her and offered to give an official endorsement.

It’s good to have people who are well respected speak to your ability, said Glasgo. Anecdotally there is evidence of the power of such endorsements. Glasgo had people telling her they’d seen her mentioned on the websites of other political leaders and would say “it speaks a lot about who you are.”

Glasgo has worked for several years in the Cypress-Medicine Hat constituency office with Drew Barnes, UCP MLA and candidate for that riding.

“Michaela has shown me in the last three years that she cares deeply about Albertans … She has shown time and time again how good she is helping constituents,” said Barnes.

There had been three contestants in the campaign.

Dinah Hiebert was acknowledged by Kenney.

“I would also like to thank Dinah Hiebert and her team for their dedication to our movement and their participation in the democratic process,” said Kenney.

Todd Beasley withdrew from the race after the UCP revealed two derogatory Facebook posts he’d made about Islam two years ago. Less than a day before voting commenced the media spotlight was on Beasley and the circumstances around the decision.

It created some dissatisfaction among UCP members who had been supporting him, said Glasgo.

“I do think I’m going to have to work extra hard to … earn their trust,” said Glasgo. “We need to make sure we are one team going into the next election.”

With about 100 people applying to be contestants for the candidacy in ridings across the province, the vetting process takes time, said Barnes, regarding the UCP’s delay in notifying Beasley that he could not continue in the race.

“I’m grateful that Michaela won and that our UCP people put the time and effort in the vetting process,” said Barnes, who feels an adequate system is in place to weed out contestants that are not suitable.

Having successfully completed a five-month campaign to win the nomination, Glasgo says, she now plans to continue knocking on doors and meeting more people face to face before the next provincial election, which is likely to be called in the spring of 2019.

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