'Fairly close' and ending 'as anticipated': Lethbridge-West stays with the Alberta NDP in byelection

Lethbridge-West byelection candidates, left to right: the UCP's John Middleton-Hope, the NDP's Rob Miyashiro and the Alberta Party's Layton Veverka. (Sources: United Conservative Party of Alberta, Alberta New Democratic Party, Alberta Party)

LETHBRIDGE — What was expected to be a tight byelection took nearly three hours to call.

Rob Miyashiro won to keep Lethbridge-West for the Alberta NDP.

"It was fairly close; approximately 1,000 votes between the two of them," said Lars Hallstrom, a professor of political science at the University of Lethbridge.

"We did see Rob (Miyashiro) win, which was sort of as anticipated."

Miyashiro led the way with 7,239 votes, followed by the UCP's John Middleton-Hope with 6,089.

The Alberta Party's Layton Veverka managed 233 votes.

This was Miyashiro's second time running for a seat in the legislature, he previously lost to Nathan Neudorf in Lethbridge-East in the 2023 general election.

He is set to become the first person of Japanese ancestry to serve in the Alberta legislature.

Alberta NDP leader Naheed Nenshi was in Lethbridge to support Miyashiro.

The byelection was seen by some as a barometer of popularity for Nenshi but despite the win, some political analysts aren't sure this race carries that sort of weight.

"I think we've seen some framing of this is like a vote of confidence for Naheed Nenshi," Hallstrom said.

"I'm not saying that isn't the case, but I think in many cases, people were voting here for the MLA that they wanted, not for the party leader."

Wednesday's byelection came down in large part to the NDP's advantage in advance voting.

Miyashiro earned 3,614 ballots in the advance vote while Middleton-Hope got 2,950.

In an election this tight, it was a difference-maker.

"I think that's often a declaration of people who knew how they were going to vote and really made sure that they did vote. (They) wanted that vote to count," Hallstrom said.

"So, sort of the tried and true of the party allied."

A total of 13,561 voters cast their ballots, making up about 37 per cent of 37,096 eligible voters.