NEWS FILE PHOTO
Mayor Ted Clugston addresses a luncheon audience at the Medicine Hat Lodge in January. Clugston said his endorsement of Michaela Glasgo in the recent United Conservative Party nomination race for Brooks-Medicine Hat was purely based on her residing in Medicine Hat.
Medicine Hat News
Medicine Hat Mayor Ted Clugston says he took the unusual step of endorsing a candidate in a provincial party nomination contest because he wants a local candidate in the new riding of Brooks-Medicine Hat.
Clugston was quoted in a social media campaign post last week for Michaela Glasgo, one of three candidates, and the only Hatter, seeking the party’s nomination in voting that closed on Tuesday.
“I’ve turned down candidates in the past for an endorsement,” Clugston told reporters on Monday, adding that he’s worked with the 25-year-old Glasgo (an assistant with Cypress-Medicine Hat MLA Drew Barnes), and was impressed.
“She’s a sharp young lady and what the UCP needs, and the final straw was that she’s the local candidate.”
RELATED:Michaela Glasgo wins UCP nomination for Brooks-Medicine Hat
In the 2019 provincial election, Hatters living north of the South Saskatchewan River will vote alongside Brooks and parts of Cypress and Newell counties in a new riding drawn up by a commission last year.
In the UCP race, Glasgo faced Brooks resident Dinah Hiebert on the official ballot, though another Brooks resident, Todd Beasley, was dropped by organizers on the weekend.
Clugston said Brooks Mayor Barry Morishita has been vocal that the vote should be postponed after Beasley was dropped, so Clugston doesn’t see civic rivalry as an issue.
“I’ll be very frank,” he said. “I want a local candidate. I want to see this person on a regular basis, run into them at events. It’s nothing against Brooks.”
During the 2016 federal byelection, Clugston appeared on stage at a federal Liberal party event with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and seemingly gave the nod to Liberal Candidate Stan Sakamoto.
“A lot of people took that the wrong way,” said Clugston, who has since stated the remarks were made as a host, as opposed to a supporter.
Note: This story has been updated to correct the year in which the federal byelection and visit by the prime minister took place.
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