Mayor Hyggen raised nearly $120K in election campaign, full contribution list released

The mayoral race received the highest level of financial interest, with the six candidates receiving a combined $190,650.16.

Blaine Hyggen, who went on to become the city’s new mayor, raised $119,832.35 from 86 donors.

Hyggen says he was amazed by the level of support he received from the community.

“It was amazing. Much more than I ever would have anticipated, to be honest with you… I was encouraged by the people in Lethbridge who shared the vision that I had, and each and every one of these supporters came and realized that I shared a similar vision.”

Throughout his campaign, Hyggen heard accusations from several members of the public that his campaign was being backed by the provincial UCP government.

He told LNN that this financial report is confirmation that those accusations were false.

“We can’t do that. That’s against the guidelines for the [Election Finances and Disclosure Act]. So no, we followed it in line, and as a matter of fact, I even had a chartered professional accountant that independently reviewed everything after as well because we wanted to make sure that everything was done according to the Act. A letter was stated that it was.”

Bridget Mearns earned both the second most votes for mayor and the second-highest level of campaign contributions at $46,420.

The public gave Stephen Mogdan $19,122.81 while Gary Klassen brought in $5,275.

Neither Sheldon Day Chief nor Kolton “The Maniac” Menzak received any donations.

In the race for Lethbridge City Council, $132,376.05 was contributed to the 32 council candidates.

Jennifer Prosser raised the most money at $18,753.55, although her bid to become a city councillor was unsuccessful.

Of the candidates for mayor and council, seven received more than $10,000 while an eighth was just a few dollars shy of that threshold.

Candidates running to become board members at the Lethbridge School Division received a combined $19,495.29, while those aiming to do the same at the Holy Spirit Catholic School Division received $2,433.

Hyggen was pleased to see a high level of engagement with the 2021 municipal election throughout all of the different races.

“The community was definitely more engaged than they have been in the past, and considering it was through a pandemic, I was extremely pleased with the turnout because it’s been one of the highest turnouts in many elections and in considering it was in the midst of COVID.”

A total of 28,348 people voted in the Lethbridge elections on October 18, 2021, for a turnout of 34.88%.

The full Candidates Disclosure of Campaign Contributions and Expenses Election 2021 report can be read on the City of Lethbridge website.

by David Opinko

Mayor Hyggen raised nearly $120K in election campaign, full contribution list released

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