3 mayoral hopefuls urge Calgarians not to elect any council candidates vying for the job

Mayoral hopefuls Virginia Stone, Zane Novak and Jan Damery held a joint media conference at City Hall on Thursday to urge Calgariansto do their research ahead of Monday's election and not to elect a current sitting council member.

Some recent polling has put candidates Jyoti Gondek and JeromyFarkasin a dead heat heading into Monday's municipal election, but they've long had an edge.

• Here's a full list of 27 mayoral hopefuls, along with links to their websites where you can find more information about their backgrounds and platforms.

A pollconducted exclusively for CBC Calgary towardthe end of September had Gondek leading a crowded field at40 per cent support among decided and leaning voters. Farkaswassecondwith 32 per cent support, and Jeff Davisonwas third with 11 per cent support of those surveyed.

They're the only council incumbents running for mayor and all three were firstelected as ward councillors in 2017.

But on Thursday, Damery, Stone and Novakappealed for Calgarians to instead consider themor other candidatesoutside of what somecalled a "divisive" council.

"Current city council has not been listening to the people," Damery said.

"This election is not about polarizing and making us divisive, which has been the track record of this existing council. None of these councillors deserve a promotion."

Name recognition and municipal politics

There are 27 candidates running for mayor in Calgary.

In her reporting for the CBC'searly October poll, political commentator and pollster Janet Brown saidthatname recognition is "the most important currency in municipal politics."

While candidates seeking office at the federal or provincial levelrun under a political party bannerwhich Brown saidprovides a shorthand that helps voters understand what each candidate stands forthose running municipally have to develop their personal brand.

"The candidates who have previously served onCalgary city council have a clear advantage over other candidates as a result," Brown wrote.

On Thursday, Novak said he has been urged to drop out of the race to prevent vote splitting among the perceived front-runners.

But he won't, he said, because voters need to know they have a choice who will be their next mayor.

"Take the time this weekend, do your research, find the plot," Novak said.

"Don't vote for the lesser of two evils, unless you just want us to get more of what we already have."

Stone said most of the citizens she is speaking to are demanding changeand have expressed frustration that the election is being depicted as a "two-horse race" with the "same old candidates."

"They do not represent change," Stone said. "And the citizens must know about these [other] platforms."

More than 140,000 Calgarianshave already cast their votes in advance polls.

On election day, this coming Monday, polls will be open from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m.

CBC Calgary ishosting amunicipal election radio special Thursday night. It'sa debate featuringthe three mayoral candidates who are leading in the polls Davison, Farkas and Gondek.

Tune in on CBC Listenor CBC Radio One at 99.1 FM from 7 to 8 p.m. MT as Calgary Eyeopenerhost David Gray brings these three candidates together.