Here’s a list of everyone that’s running to be mayor of Calgary

Calgarians will head to the polls for the 2025 General Election on Monday, Oct. 20.

Here’s more information about each of the names that will be on the mayoral ballot that day.

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Jeff Davison

Davison is a former city councillor, serving one term from 2017 to 2021. He has also held various leadership roles over the past two decades in the energy, technology, and creative services industries. Davison is currently the CEO of the Prostate Cancer Centre.

Platform: He is running on a platform of safer communities for everyone, affordability that works, jobs, innovation, and local opportunity, more innovative infrastructure and transit, and responsive, transparent government. Davison says his vision is a Calgary where safety, affordability, and opportunity are absolute for every resident, not just promised.

Davison is an independent candidate, not associating himself with any municipal political party. However, he has received an endorsement from the A Better Calgary (ABC) Party, which does not have a party member running for mayor. The party believes in striking a balance between fiscal responsibility and compassion, protecting individual freedoms, and supporting the family as the cornerstone of a strong society.

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Sarah Elder

Elder has a degree in justice studies and is a former BC political staffer. She has worked in politics for the last two decades and owns Madame Premier, a multi-partisan political advocacy and democratic participation fashion brand, podcast, and community.

Platform: Elder’s campaign is a departure from tradition, aiming to be inclusive by asking Calgarians to identify their top three issues. She shares her own concerns, such as the difficulty of getting kids into swimming lessons, the removal of a tree swing in northwest Calgary, small businesses struggling with property tax increases, unconsulted construction, and a lack of support for small businesses in general.

Elder hasn’t aligned herself with a municipal political party and is running as an independent candidate.

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Jeromy Farkas

Farkas ran for mayor in the 2021 municipal election, placing second behind Jyoti Gondek. Previously, he served as a Ward 11 councillor from 2017 to 2021. Most recently, he served as the CEO of Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park.

Platform: Farkas’s platform is: a household you can afford, jobs you can count on, safe streets for our kids, and leadership we can trust. He adds that the election is about household costs, jobs, and safety.

Farkas is running as an independent, not associating himself with any municipal political party.

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Jyoti Gondek

Gondek was elected mayor in 2021, the first woman to ever hold the job. Before that, she served as the councillor for Ward 3 for one term. Gondek holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Manitoba and has worked as a policy analyst for the provincial government. She also holds a master’s and a PhD in sociology and founded a strategic planning and communications consultancy before teaching at the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business.

Platform: Proven leadership in crisis, strengthening Calgary’s energy future, growing Calgary’s economy, prioritizing public safety, and putting people first.

Gondek is running as an independent, not associating herself with any municipal political party.

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Jaegar Gustafson

Dr. Jaegar Gustafson is a doctor of acupuncture and co-founder of Orthopaedic Massage and Acupuncture, an integrative health clinic. He also co-founded the not-for-profit Yue-Gustafson School of Health Professions, described by Gustafson as a post-secondary institution advancing health professions education in Alberta. He also volunteers on a provincial regulatory committee with a mandate to protect public safety in private and public advanced education institutions.

Platform: Gustafson said he intends to lower residential and commercial taxes, boost morale, and empower frontline city staff to reduce costs. He wants to implement customized solutions for communities, particularly in housing and infrastructure, recognizing that each has its own unique identity, history, and priorities. Gustafson wants city hall to work with all unions, ensuring all professional organizations feel supported and have adequate resources to do their job and provide services to Calgarians.

Gustafson is running as an independent, not associating himself with any municipal political party.

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Larry Heather

Heather has run for office at all levels, including provincial, federal, and school board trustee. He is a well-known anti-abortion activist and has been active in other socially conservative causes.

Platform: Heather’s list of campaign promises is extensive. Some of his points include revoking Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) measures across the City of Calgary, revoking the reintroduction of fluoride into the water system, revoking blanket rezoning, and removing aspects of Truth and Reconciliation and Indigenization at the City of Calgary.

Heather is running as an independent, not associating himself with any municipal political party.

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Grant Prior

Prior is a Directional Driller with over 18 years of experience in the oil and gas industry. His professional background also includes roles as a Finishing Supervisor in high-rise construction projects in downtown Calgary, Operations Manager overseeing multiple nightclubs in Los Angeles, and Executive Director for two non-profit organizations.

Platform: Prior says he will emphasizes what he describes as “human-centered capitalism” as a framework for addressing issues such as inequality, homelessness, affordable housing, and public transit. He advocates for increased support for working-class residents and expresses concern about the affordability of living in Calgary.

He has stated that his campaign aims to prioritize practical action over long-term planning cycles and seeks to reduce political division by focusing on community-building and collaboration.

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Sonya Sharp

Website: sharpformayor.ca

Email: hello@sharpformayor.ca

Sharp was elected councillor for Ward 1 in the 2021 municipal election. Before entering politics, she worked as a City of Calgary employee in various capacities, including 14 years in planning and development, a stint as a minor business coordinator, and, ultimately, asmanager of the business and local economy team. Sharp also served as the city manager’s delegate on the Council’s Business Advisory Committee. She has a diploma in Building Development Technology from SAIT and attended the University of Lethbridge for three years.

Platform: Sharp says she will prioritize affordability, public safety, and efficient core services. When it comes to affordability, she says collaboration will take precedence over politics, and she’s committed to working with the provincial and federal governments — regardless of who’s in power — to manage the cost of living for Calgarians. Sharp adds she will reduce red tape and improve city processes to make tax dollars go further. When it comes time for the budget, she will have every business unit’s spending reviewed for efficiencies.

Sharp is a member of the Communities First Party, which claims to prioritize community interests above all, distinguishing itself from traditional political parties.

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Brian Thiessen

Website: vote4brian.ca

Email: hello@thecalgaryparty.ca

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briantyyc/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/briantyyc/?hl=en

Thiessen is an employment and labour lawyer with Calgary’s Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP and was previously the office’s managing partner. From 2016 to 2019, he served as chair of the Calgary Police Commission.

Platform: Thiessen’s party stands for accountability, affordability, and action. It claims to make streets safer and lower taxes while building an effective, responsive, and forward-looking city. They want a more liveable, prosperous, secure, fiscally responsible Calgary.

Thiessen is a member of The Calgary Party, which claims to be a movement dedicated to delivering a city that reflects the ambition, grit, and creativity of its people.