Naheed Nenshi was re-elected to a third term as mayor of Calgary.
The campaign, however, was hard fought against rival Bill Smith, who eventually conceded at midnight when Nenshi had 112,503 votes to Smith’s 97,756.
“Today, we confidently said as a people, as a community, that we will be bold, we will move forward and we will do it together,” Nenshi said to a cheering crowd at The National, a downtown Calgary bar.
“Being your mayor is the best job in the world. This city is the best city in the world”
There was a lot at stake with a record voter turnout, higher than it’s been in over forty years.
Described by critics “prickly”, Nenshi’s supporters find him “scrappy”.
“I can’t promise you I’ll be a different person and I’m not sure you want that, but I can promise you I’ll do my very best, put my pants on every day and go to work every single day for every one of you,” Nenshi said.
First Muslim mayor of any North American city in 2010
“Being your mayor is the best job in the world. This city is the best city in the world. And our best days are still ahead.”
Naheed Nenshi was the first Muslim mayor of Calgary, and any major North American city when first elected in 2010.
He was born in Toronto after his parents immigrated from Tanzania. They soon moved and he grew up in Calgary.
According to Elections Calgaray there were 387,306 votes cast by 58.1 per cent of the electorate, despite long voter lineups, ballot shortages and slow results.
Early this morning it was confirmed that, Nenshi, the first had 199,122 votes, compared to 169,367 for Smith.
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