Ward-by-ward election results released by the City of Calgary Thursday showed that the ward in which each candidate resides didn’t seem to impact voting.
While Ric McIver had a strong showing in Ward 12 with 17 per cent of the vote, candidates Barb Higgins and Naheed Nenshi flopped in their home wards.
“Neither one of them (Nenshi or Higgins) had any reason to expect one particular part of the city or one local base of support,” said University of Calgary political scientist Lisa Young.
“They didn’t have a long history of being representatives of that ward.”
Nenshi tied with Higgins at 11 per cent in Ward 5, while in Higgins’ Ward 8 community she only had seven per cent of the vote and Nenshi had 20 per cent.
Ward 8 resident Robert Jones said he wasn’t surprised Nenshi had support in the downtown.
“I think the combination of young people and the fact that it’s a pretty aware community when it comes to political issues, I think, probably helped Nenshi.”
