Calgary Ward 4 challenger launches campaign 600 days before election

Calgary's next municipal election isn't until October 2017, but one challenger to the Ward 4 incumbent is hoping time is on his side by launching his campaign a full 20 months before voters mark their ballots.

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About 50 people were on hand at a Beddington pub as Greg Miller declared his intention to bump current Ward 4 Coun. Sean Chu.

Miller says the timing is right.

"It's so exciting to see so many people who are here two years before the next civic election," he said.

Miller says he's starting his run for council early because there are plenty of issuesand he wants to meet as many Ward 4 voters as possible.

"You have to be out in front of people. You have to make the connections with the communities, the community associations, with actual residents and you bet, making sure that they know that 'I'm Greg Miller and I'm running in Ward 4 and I want to best represent what you want at city hall."

Political strategist Stephen Carter has managed civic campaigns in the past.

He says now that city council has four year terms, get used to longer campaigns to get one of those seats.

"The third year used to be the time when we'd see people announce," Carter tells CBC News.

"Well, that's what we're seeing now. It's just the third year. So I'm expecting that we will start seeing more and more people announce earlier and earlier an unintended consequence of going to a four year cycle."

Voters in Ward 4, about 100,000 of them, along with the rest of Calgary will head to the polls Oct. 16, 2017.

Just 600 days away.

• Candidates in Calgary's next election already registering