Sohi voter support falls to 16%: poll

Amarjeet Sohi cruised to victory with 45 per cent of the votes in 2021. Three years later, just 16 per cent of Edmontonians asked by polling firm Leger said they plan to cast their ballot for the incumbent mayor. 

“When you have the Oilers shooting the lights out, you think they’d be a little more optimistic, but when it comes to City Hall, not so much,” said Andrew Enns, the Executive Vice-President of Leger.

It’s not just the mayor. 67 per cent told Leger they feel Edmonton is on the wrong track. 

“People are frustrated. There’s nobody that’s happy with with an almost 9 per cent tax increase, including the members of council who voted for it,” said Councillor Andrew Knack. 

Still, the city needed the money to make up for austerity budgets during the pandemic and to fund rapid growth, Knack insists he understands the backlash, but still supports Sohi. 

“I can see the work he’s trying to do to build up public services which haven’t been doing for most of my last 10 years,” said Knack.

Sohi didn’t make himself available for media interviews since the release of the poll. But in a statement, the mayor blamed previous councils which underfunded core services and provincial cuts to city funding.

The poll found Edmontonians are most upset about homelessness, a lack of affordable housing, and property taxes. 

“These numbers are not good for the sitting mayor, the incumbent, and that would suggest it will encourage some people, and potentially some serious contenders, to kick tires,” said Enns.

Sohi hasn’t said whether he’ll run again or not, and no one else has officially announced a run for the mayor’s seat. 

Edmonton’s next election is in October 2025. Knack said he expects to see a lot of challengers, and if councillors ignore this poll and don’t do a lot of constituency work. He believes we could see a lot of new people elected.