Edmonton Southeast voters react to Mayor Sohi’s federal election loss

CityNews took to the riding of Edmonton Southeast, where Mayor Amarjeet Sohi was defeated by Conservative candidate Jagsharan Singh Mahal.

We asked Edmontonians in the riding if they were surprised by the outcome.

“Alberta pretty much conservative province. If Sohi would’ve won, he would’ve surprised me,” said Brian Deakin, an Edmontonian.

Another Edmontonian saying, “Not something that really, really surprised me. But I was hoping Amarjeet would win.”

With 159 of 159 polls reporting, Conservative Singh Mahal secured 52.8 per cent of the vote, well ahead of Sohi with 38.69 per cent.

“Yes, this is not the result we expected, but this is the result that we accept. Because people make decisions. People elect you, and sometimes they don’t elect you,” said Sohi.

Deakin adding, “I thought he would have more of a following because he was a Liberal when Trudeau first came in and then he got voted in as mayor. I thought he’d get a little more.”

Another Edmontonian saying, “I’m just glad he lost. I think he’s a horrible mayor. I didn’t vote for him when he was running. He runs the city like a typical Liberal. Just spend spend spend!”

Edmonton Southeast is one of seven ridings in Edmonton to elect a Conservative Member of Parliament, as Carney’s Liberal party is projected to form a minority government. While a majority of the people CityNews spoke with said they were happy to see Alberta remain blue, others said they were hoping Sohi would win.

“He’s done good things around here for the city, but you know it is what it is.”

CityNews reached out to Sohi’s Conservative opponent, Singh Mahal, for an interview, but didn’t hear back at this time. Mahal is one of the Conservative candidates in Edmonton who didn’t participate in public debates and media interviews during the federal election campaign.

Edmonton–Southeast is a newly created riding along with Edmonton Gateway, which both replaced Edmonton Mill Woods.