Former UCP President Cynthia Moore running for Calgary-Elbow UCP nomination
And NDP leader Naheed Nenshi confirms he's running in Calgary in the next election
Former United Conservative Party president Cynthia Moore has launched her campaign for her party’s nomination in the Calgary-Elbow riding in the next provincial election.
Moore currently serves as chair of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, a role she was appointed to by the UCP government in 2024, and as chair of the Real Estate Council of Alberta. She previously worked as an executive of the Kahanoff Foundation.
Moore was UCP president from 2021 until 2023 — a tumultuous time in the governing party’s history that saw rank and file members revolt against Premier Jason Kenney’s leadership and rocket Danielle Smith into the Premier’s Office.
As UCP president she found herself frequently at odds with the party’s most engaged activists — the raucous populists and social conservatives who rallied against COVID-19 public health measures, toppled Kenney in the party’s 2022 leadership review, and are now firmly entrenched as the UCP’s separatist-wing.
UCP activist David Parker, who led the Take Back Alberta charge to seize control of the UCP’s influential board of directors in 2023, labelled Moore as a “power-hungry tyrant” and described her leadership as “illegitimate and anti-democratic.” Parker has faced a string of investigations and fines from Elections Alberta and is as the centre of the largest data breach of personal information in Alberta’s history.
Moore shot back at her critics at the time, saying that:
“If they can’t get on board with a more moderate agenda, on governing for the whole province, they should go. You can’t just be agitating all the time. You can’t stay in power if you’re constantly in chaos.”
The three years since Moore stepped down as UCP president suggest otherwise for her party — and its inspiration south of the border. The UCP and its activist base have never stopped agitating or churning chaos.
But Moore’s history in Alberta conservative circles pre-dates the UCP.
She was the last president of the Progressive Conservative association in Calgary-Elbow before the party merged with the Wildrose Party to form the UCP in 2017, vice-president of the federal PC Party association in Calgary Centre in 1993, and she endorsed Hugh Segal’s run for the party’s leadership in 1998.
She is the daughter of well-known Calgary philanthropists Pat Moore and Sherrold Moore. Sherrold was an oil corporation executive who served on the board of the Calgary Health Trust for 20 years, chaired the Rockyview Hospital development council — and was president of the Calgary-Elbow PC Party constituency association in the 1980s.
The senior Moore was described in news reports at the time as “one of six key insiders” in Ralph Klein’s 1992 leadership race and served as co-chair of the Premier’s re-election campaign finance committee in 1993. Klein appointed him to chair of the Recreation, Parks and Wildlife Foundation and the Glenbow Museum board of governors in the 1990s.
The Moore’s later surprised their fellow conservatives when they supported Liberal Harvey Locke in the 2012 by-election in Calgary Centre that was narrowly won by Conservative Joan Crockatt.
A date has not been announced for the UCP nomination meeting in the Calgary-Elbow riding. This will be a riding to watch in the next election.
How Calgary-Elbow’ed its way into the history books
The southwest Calgary riding that includes prestigious neighbourhoods, like Britannia, Elbow Park, Roxboro, and Upper Mount Royal, is currently represented by NDP MLA Samir Kayande. Kayande won Calgary-Elbow for the NDP for the first time ever in 2023 and currently serves as the NDP Caucus’ Chair of Analytics.
Kayande won in 2023 with 49 per cent of the vote ahead of UCP candidate Chris Davis, who finished second with a strong 46 per cent (Moore was Davis’ campaign manager during his city council run in 2017).
Calgary-Elbow has an interesting political history, having been represented by Premier Ralph Klein from 1989 until his resignation in 2007 when Liberal Craig Cheffins surprised political watchers by winning a by-election (Cheffins recently penned a column about Alberta separatism in the Calgary Herald).
Cheffins was soon defeated by lawyer and future premier Alison Redford in 2008 and she represented the riding until her resignation in 2014. A by-election held to replace Redford was won by PC candidate Gordon Dirks, a former Calgary school trustee who served as an MLA in Saskatchewan in the early 1980s.
The riding bucked the NDP Orange Wave in 2015 when Dirks was defeated by Alberta Party leader Greg Clark, who became the first and only MLA ever elected under that party’s banner. Clark was then defeated in 2019 by UCP candidate Doug Schweitzer, a former UCP leadership candidate and Manitoba PC official who served in Kenney’s cabinet and resigned as an MLA ahead of the 2023 election.
Kayande was nominated to run for re-election as the NDP candidate in 2027 at a March 4, 2026 nomination meeting in the riding.
While Kayande is the first NDP MLA elected in Calgary-Elbow, the riding has a history of fielding NDP candidates who are successful when they later run elsewhere:
Craig Coolahan placed fourth as the NDP candidate in 2012 but later served as the NDP MLA for Calgary-Klein from 2015 to 2019.
Stephanie McLean placed fifth in the 2014 by-election but later served as the NDP MLA for Calgary-Varsity from 2015 to 2019 and was elected as the Liberal MP for Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke in 2025. She currently serves as the federal Secretary of State for Seniors.
Janet Eremenko placed third as the NDP candidate in 2019 and was elected as the MLA for Calgary-Currie in 2023. She is running for re-election.
Nenshi will run in Calgary, Trisha Estabrooks expected to run for NDP nomination in Edmonton-Strathcona
It was expected and NDP leader Naheed Nenshi has just confirmed it. Nenshi will run in a Calgary riding when the next provincial election is called. The NDP leader and former Calgary mayor won a by-election in Edmonton-Strathcona in June 2025 to replace former MLA and premier Rachel Notley but he had yet to officially announce his plans for the next election.
In a statement published on social media today, Nenshi said:
Today, I’m letting you know of a decision I’ve made. While I’ve been thrilled every day to serve as your MLA, I will be seeking election in a Calgary riding in the next general election.
This will open up Edmonton-Strathcona for a new representative from this beautiful community. I am informing you today so that the incredible constituency association in this riding has time for a healthy and robust nomination process to select a candidate and a future MLA worthy of representing you. Interested candidates can express their interest now and more details on the nomination process and dates will be coming soon.
It’s been suspected for some time that Nenshi could run in the downtown Calgary-Buffalo riding that will be freed up when three-term NDP MLA Joe Ceci retires when the next election is called.
Former school trustee Trisha Estabrooks is expected to announced her plans to run for the NDP nomination in Edmonton-Strathcona at a July 17 press conference at Frank’s Community Pub. The riding has been held by the NDP since 1997 and from 1986 to 1993 before that.
Estabrooks served as a trustee on the Edmonton Public School Board from 2017 to 2025 and was a journalist for CBC before that. She was the NDP candidate in Edmonton Centre in the 2025 federal election.
She is also the daughter of former Nova Scotia NDP MLA Bill Estabrooks, who represented the Timberlea-Prospect riding from 1998 to 2013 and served as Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal from 2009 to 2012.
School trustee Angela Sommers running for NDP nomination in Red Deer-North
Public school trustee Angela Sommers is expected to be nominated as the NDP candidate in Red Deer-North at a July 30 nomination meeting. Sommers was first elected to the board of trustees of the Red Deer Public School Board in 2021.
The riding has been represented by UCP MLA Adriana LaGrange since 2019. LaGrange was re-elected in 2023 with 57.4 per cent of the vote. Her 2023 NDP opponent, Jaelene Tweedle, was elected to Red Deer City Council in 2025.
The NDP will nominate Michelle Baer in the neighbouring Red Deer-South riding on July 25. Baer is a former city lawyer who ran for the NDP the riding in 2023.
More nomination updates
The following updates have been added to the list of nomination candidates running for the next Alberta election:
The UCP have acclaimed four MLAs to run for re-election: Demetrios Nicolaides in Calgary-Bow, Mike Ellis in Calgary-West, Jackie Lovely in Camrose, and Chantelle de Jonge in Chestermere-Strathmore.
The UCP has also opened nominations in Calgary-North West, Cypress-Medicine Hat, and Sherwood Park with a July 24 deadline for candidates to enter the races.
Aaron Connor is running for the Progressive Tory Party nomination in Athabasca-Barrheard-Westlock.
Dharminder Singh Premi is running for the UCP nomination in Calgary-Falconridge.
Premi ran for the UCP nomination in the neighbouring Chestermere-Strathmore riding in 2023.
Kerry George is seeking the UCP nomination in Calgary-Foothills. George is supported by conservative political organizer Craig Chandler.
The north west city riding is currently represented by NDP MLA Court Ellingson.
Alabi Adenekan and Stephen Burry are seeking the UCP nomination in Calgary-South East.
Burry served as chief of staff and president of Derek Fildebrandt’s Freedom Conservative Party in 2019 and 2020 and was the Libertarian Party candidate in Sherwood Park-Fort Saskatchewan in the 2015 federal election.
The riding is currently represented by UCP MLA Matt Jones, who will not be seeking re-election in 2027.
:Okwuchi Nnani is seeking the UCP nomination in Edmonton-Decore.
Nnani works as the Director of Stakeholder Relations in the Office of the Premier.
The north Edmonton riding is currently represented by NDP MLA Sharif Haji.
Collins Norbert Ugochukwu is running for the UCP nomination in Edmonton-South.
Ugochukwu works as a Senior Policy Advisor for Minister of Hospital and Surgical Health Services Adriana LaGrange.
He has a PhD in Environmental Resources Management from Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus–Senftenberg in Germany.
The riding is currently represented by NDP MLA Rhiannon Hoyle.
Hans Herchen is running for the UCP nomination in Lac Ste. Anne-Parkland.
Hershen is the past president of the Alberta Dental Association and founder & CEO of Dental Choice.
The riding is currently represented by UCP MLA Shane Getson, who will not be seeking re-election, and Herchen is joining Ray Donnelly, Nancy Karvellas, and Matthew McLennan in the nomination contest to choose the next UCP candidate.
Vermilion Town Councillor Paul Conlon is the fourth candidate to enter the UCP nomination contest in Vermilion-Lloydminster-Wainwright.
Incumbent UCP MLA Garth Rowswell is not seeking re-election.
More Alberta politics
Premier Danielle Smith will be a lunchtime keynote speaker the 35th Annual Pacific Northwest Economic Region (PNWER) Summit being hosted in Edmonton from July 19 to 23, 2026.
Cabinet ministers Andrew Boitchenko, Devin Dreeshen, Nate Glubish, Brian Jean, Tara Sawyer and Justin Wright are among the many speakers scheduled to address the conference.
Former MLA and current Alberta representative to Washington DC Nathan Cooper will also speak, as will United States Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra.
Smith is also expected to attend the Council of the Federation meetings in Charlottetown, PEI. The annual gathering of provincial premiers is being held from July 21 to 23.
Andrew Mackendrick has left his position as Executive Director of Communications and Tour at the NDP Caucus. He started in the role in September 2025.
MacKendrick previously worked as External Relations Manager for APEGA and in numerous press secretary and communications roles for federal Liberal cabinet ministers between 2015 and 2023.
The NDP Caucus hired former CityNews reporter Sean Amato as Director of Communications.
Harnour Kochar left the NDP as Senior Outreach Advisor earlier this year and announced recently on LinkedIn that she will be starting work for federal Minister of Indigenous Services Mandy Gull-Masty as a Senior Prairies Advisor.
Kochar was a guest on the Daveberta Podcast in October 2021, when she shared some thoughts about her role as Director of Field Operations and Get Out the Vote co-chair on Amarjeet Sohi’s successful mayoral campaign.
I have updated the “Who’s who of the Alberta separation referendum debate” list to include former MLAs Iris Evans, Mary O’Neill, and Karen McPherson, former Conservative MP Damien Kurek, and Senator Paula Simons as supporters of Alberta remaining a province in Canada.
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