Andrew Knack to be the next mayor of Edmonton

A year ago, Andrew Knack was ready to walk away from politics. Now, he will be the next mayor of Edmonton.

“After a long, long wait, it is official: Edmonton chose independent leadership with real solutions that will move us to a stronger city together,” Knack started his acceptance speech with.

“This campaign was fueled by passion, grit, and tenacity. Every day Edmontonians spoke loud and clear: choosing optimism and hope over big money and party politics.”

On Tuesday, Global News declared him the winner of the mayoral race, a day after an election that saw long lines at the polls due to new procedures requiring paperwork to be filled out and all votes counted by hand.

Knack was declared before all the votes for mayor were counted after his main competition, Better Edmonton party leader Tim Cartmell, conceded the race Tuesday afternoon when he was at 29 per cent of the vote to Knack’s lead of 38.5 per cent.

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“Running for mayor has been the honour of my life. Edmonton is a city built by doers — by people who work hard, fix what’s broken, and look out for their neighbours. That spirit will carry us forward, no matter who sits in this chair,” Cartmell said.

“This afternoon I reached out to congratulate Andrew Knack. He has a big job ahead, and I truly wish him success. Because when Edmonton succeeds, we all succeed.”

Flanked by his parents, Knack became choked up with emotion when thanking his friends and family for their support. He also acknowledged the people he ran against.

“Campaigns are not easy and I want to thank and recognize Tim Cartmell for his service,” Knack said to applause. “We did not always agree but your voice is important.”

He also thanked former MP Rahim Jaffer for a campaign based on civility and respect: “Thank you — we need more of that in politics.”

Knack praised former city councillor Michael Walters for his passion and a well-run campaign, and praised political outsider Dr. Omar Mohammad: “Your story of perseverance reminded all of us to shine brighter together.”

Last September, Knack announced he’d be stepping away from municipal politics after representing Nakota Isga in west Edmonton since 2013.

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But then this past spring when Amarjeet Sohi announced he was not running again to be mayor, the three-term city councillor began fielding requests to run for the city’s top job and in May, launched his campaign.

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Edmonton mayoral candidate Andrew Knack interview

Before being elected to council, Knack managed a retail business in West Edmonton Mall.

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Knack ran on a platform of claiming to be only mayoral candidate being honest and realistic about taxes, explaining he would advocate for responsible budget but not one that cuts back on essential services.

He promised affordability, a safer city and a strong economy. Knack said infill developments play a vital role in housing affordability and sustainability, but there are concerns from the public that do need to be addressed.

While homelessness and housing is a provincial responsibility, Knack said Edmonton ends up dealing with the social disorder and fallout of people falling through the cracks so he would push for the city to do more to address it.

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There were 13 people – 12 men and one woman – running for mayor in the 2025 Edmonton election. Polling found six of those candidates had a likelihood of getting enough votes.

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Knack, Cartmell and Walters make their pitch to be Edmonton’s next mayor

They were Tim Cartmell and Andrew Knack, who sat on city council up until Monday night, former city councillors Tony Caterina and Michael Walters, former MP Rahim Jaffer, and pediatric dentist Omar Mohammad.

There were two parties running in the Edmonton election: PACE, which put up nine candidates for city council but none for mayor, and Better Edmonton, which ran a full slate of city council candidates in each ward and Tim Cartmell for mayor.

This was the first time local political parties were allowed in municipal politics, but Knack ran as an independent candidate.

While we know who will be Edmonton’s next mayor, the remaining men and women who will make up city council is still being determined.

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Results from municipalities across Alberta were expected to be slow this time around, due to new provincial election laws.

Provincial legislation, passed by the UCP government in 2024, means all the ballots will need to be counted by hand instead of machine – increasing the cost and time of determining the results.

All day long in Calgary and Edmonton, voters experienced longer-than-expected lines due to another change under Bill 20 that requires election workers to check a new “permanent electors register” to confirm a person’s eligibility to vote.

All voters had to also complete a Statement of Eligibility form (Form 13) at the voting station. The City of Edmonton said the form is a declaration by an elector that they meet the required legislated criteria to receive and cast ballots.

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Long municipal election lines in Alberta after legislation changes

In some cases the lineups were so long, people walked away without even voting after waiting upwards of two hours.

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While polls closed at 8 p.m., those in line at that time were told to stay in it and they would be let in to vote. Only after all of the voters at a polling station have cast their ballots could they be counted.

In Edmonton, election officials said the counting will stop at 1 a.m. Tuesday and resume at 9 a.m.

Advance voting occurred last week over five days, during which 41,340 Edmonton residents cast their ballot.

In 2021, when advance voting ran for 10 days, the city said 63,938 Edmontonians cast their ballot.

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While the number of days to vote was half as long this time around, the numbers broke down to an average of 8,200 a day – compared to 6,400 in 2021.

Official results for the 2025 Edmonton Election will be released no later than noon on Friday, Oct. 24.

Of all the mayoral candidates, Cartmell raised the most money.

Interim campaign finance and disclosure information released by the city detailed how much candidates had raised as between Jan.1 and July 31, 2025.

In that time period, along with contributions from 2024, Cartmell’s campaign raised $834,552.

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Second to Cartmell was political outsider Omar Mohammad, who raised $115,730 as of July 31.

In that same time period, Andrew Knack’s campaign raised just over $42,000 from the time he announced his mayoral run in May to the end of July.

Michael Walters has raised $36,347, Rahim Jaffer brought in $1,930 and Tony Caterina raised $40.

Final campaign disclosures are due in March 2026. Municipal parties also need to file disclosures.