Voters mark their ballots on Monday during the 2025 municipal election. Results are still coming in Wednesday, but half the council has been declared by the News, with insurmountable leads.--NEWS PHOTO BRENDAN MILLER
While results will not be official until Friday at noon, initial impressions point toward a mostly new council.
With reporting resuming Wednesday morning and an estimated 30% of polling for councillors still to come, some seats are still too close to call. However, current unofficial results suggest Yusuf Mohammed, Ted Clugston, Stuart Young and Chris Hellman will form the first four members of council.
Mohammed says he’s humbled to have received so much support from the community. At the time of publication, Mohammed led the 39 council candidates with the most votes.
“I feel blessed. I am just in awe at the response so far,” he said. “I’ve done a lot in the community at different levels, and I feel really appreciated,” he told the News.
Mohammed says he looks forward to connecting with stakeholders as his first weeks in office commence.
Clugston reflected on the slow election night, but with his place in council fairly secure he expressed gratitude to the people of Medicine Hat.
“I’m appreciative of the residents of Medicine Hat, that they’ve put their trust in me again, and humbled, frankly, to come back as a councillor,” said Clugston. He is looking toward those first steps, from what he referred to as “Council School,” to seeking a new city manager and getting a new strategic plan in place.
Likewise, Young partially attributed the win to the hard work of all of the volunteers who took the time to support his campaign.
“It’s such an honour to be elected and I’m excited,” said Young. “Obviously we’re just at the beginning of this, but I’m excited to make Medicine Hat proud and to do my best with some great people.”
His foremost goal is to build on the work of his campaign and continue to listen to residents as he learns the ropes of being an elected official.
Results are still trickling in, but Hellman is optimistic about the early appearance of the new council.
“I think there’s a great team there to work with, and I think everybody has good interests at heart, and we’ll all work together to that end,” Hellman said
He says his first priority is getting on the same page with his fellow councillors.
“I look forward to meeting council and the mayor, build some rapport with them, find out what their priorities are and talk about mine, and learn about the job.”
