{"id":910457,"date":"2026-09-26T14:26:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T14:26:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/910457\/"},"modified":"2026-09-26T14:26:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T14:26:16","slug":"beyond-the-open-wards-where-change-is-most-likely-to-occur-in-winnipeg-council-races","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/910457\/","title":{"rendered":"Beyond the open wards: Where change is most likely to occur in Winnipeg council races"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Estimated 4 minutes<\/p>\n

The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n

In just over a month, someone new will be elected in at least one third of Winnipeg’s city council seats.<\/p>\n

The retirement of five long-serving city councillors guarantees significant turnover on election day this year.<\/p>\n

This will be a major departure from 2022, when only one incumbent was defeated. And even that change comes with an asterisk, because it saw a former councillor return to defeat an incumbent.<\/p>\n

This year, the turnover may not end with the five vacant seats. <\/p>\n

There are five other wards where incumbent candidates face competition from experienced challengers, whose ranks include a couple of former city councillors.<\/p>\n

Now that the ballots are set, here’s where the battles are most likely to take place on Oct. 28:<\/p>\n

Wide-open wards (5)<\/p>\n

The pending retirement of Coun. John Orlikow in River Heights-Fort Garry has set up a three-way succession battle that includes the outgoing councillor’s longtime executive assistant, Georgina Sabesky, who has access to all the voter information Orlikow compiled over the course of 17 years.<\/p>\n

She’s up against Sara MacArthur, a former city hall official who is trained as a planner, and Jorge Requena Ramos, who is well-known in Winnipeg cultural circles for his work at the West End Cultural Centre.<\/p>\n

In Waverley West, outgoing Coun. Janice Lukes endorsed Nafiya Naso but her succession is not assured in a five-way race that also includes Uche Nwankwo, Jasmine Brar, Antar Banik and Yuanchao Li.<\/p>\n

Coun. Brian Mayes, who is running as a school trustee this year, has endorsed Chris Sigurdson in St. Vital. He too faces competition from Season Kirkwood and Doug Reimer.<\/p>\n

In St. Norbert-Seine River, soon to be vacated by Coun. Markus Chambers, the ballot includes Govind Thawani, Anita Roy, Ron Paul Garden Centre owner Ray DuBois and market gardener and environmental activist Louise May.<\/p>\n

Finally, the late decision by Sherri Rollins not to seek another term in Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry has provided another opportunity for 2018 contestant Jeff Palmer and campaigns by Kevin Stuart, Brook Jones and Carson Mauthe.<\/p>\n

Incumbents engaged in rematches (4)<\/p>\n

Generally speaking, incumbency provides municipal candidates with a formidable advantage. That advantage is reduced when challengers know the lay of the electoral land.<\/p>\n

In Elmwood-East Kildonan, first-term progressive incumbent Emma Durand-Wood has only had a year since a 2025 byelection to settle into her role. She also can not count on help in a general election from all the volunteers who supported her in a byelection. She also faces both Abel Gutierrez and Chris Sweryda, who competed in last year’s byelection, as part of a five-candidate field.<\/p>\n

In St. James, incumbent Shawn Dobson is in a rematch with 2022 contestant Kelly Ryback. In St. Boniface, incumbent Matt Allard faces his own 2022 competitor again in Nicholas Douklias.<\/p>\n

And in Mynarski, four-term incumbent Ross Eadie faces both 2022 challenger Natalie Smith and a former Mynarski councillor \u2014 Terry Wachniak, who represented the ward from 1986 to 1989.<\/p>\n

The unusual case of Transcona <\/p>\n

The race in Winnipeg’s easternmost ward is unlike any the city has ever seen, as incumbent Russ Wyatt is campaigning while he faces five sexual assault and drug charges.<\/p>\n

Wyatt, who maintains his innocence, must stave off a challenge from the man he defeated in 2022, former councillor Shawn Nason, as well as new contenders Lora Meseman, Chris Giesbrecht and Nathine Dagdick.<\/p>\n

Wards less likely to change (5)<\/p>\n

There are five other Winnipeg wards where incumbents only face first-time challengers.<\/p>\n

Jeff Browaty is attempting to win his sixth consective election in North Kildonan. Devi Sharma is trying to win her fifth in Old Kildonan.<\/p>\n

Cindy Gilroy is looking for win No. 4 in Daniel McIntyre. Another win this year will make it three for Vivian Santos in Point Douglas and Evan Duncan is seeking his second term as the councillor for Charleswood-Tuxedo Westwood.<\/p>\n

\"MayoralMayoral race signs in Winnipeg on Sept. 25, 2026. (Kevin Nepitabo\/CBC)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 4 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":910458,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194296],"tags":[49,48,22073],"class_list":["post-910457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-winnipeg","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-winnipeg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/910457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=910457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/910457\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/910458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=910457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=910457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=910457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}