Blaine Hyggen spoke about the results of the 2025 municipal election, in which, he is projected to be re-elected as mayor. (Photo: Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

Blaine Hyggen to hit the ground running in projected second term as Lethbridge mayor

Oct 22, 2025 | 2:49 PM

Fresh off the 2025 municipal elections, the city’s mayoral incumbent candidate says he is getting back to work immediately.

The unofficial results show that Blaine Hyggen is estimated to have secured 42.97 per cent of the ballots, and is projected to serve another term as mayor.

READ MORE: Blaine Hyggen projected to win re-election as Lethbridge mayor

He started Wednesday afternoon’s press conference with a victory speech, touching on his gratitude to the public, election workers and his fellow candidates. He also spoke about some of the disparaging and threatening comments he has seen some people make online towards himself and other candidates.

You can listen to Hyggen’s full opening remarks below:

Nighttime construction on Hwy 3 in Lethbridge starts April 17

Apr 17, 2025

SASHA launches #BuyABed fundraiser to support vulnerable Lethbridge residents

Apr 04, 2025

$20K grants available: TELUS STORYHIVE Pan-Asian Edition opens applications April 1

Mar 18, 2025

The mayor-elect says it has been an honour to serve the city for the past 12 years, eight on council and four as mayor, and to be able to now serve an additional four.

Several members of the previous city council are projected to be re-elected as well, including Belinda Crowson, Jenn Schmidt-Rempel, Rajko Dodic, Mark Campbell and Ryan Parker.

Hyggen says this is a major sign of confidence from the community.

“I think we’ve heard loud and clear that the work that we’ve been doing is good work, and we can continue moving forward. So when those same folks get elected back in, they appreciate the work that’s been done. You know, as we continue to do that work, we will do what’s best for the community,” he says.

He adds, however, that there is no time to dwell on the past and that he is getting to work right away.

“We’ve we’ve heard loud and clear at the doors, and if you were at any of the forums, many, if it’s between councilors or or mayor candidates or trustee candidates, for that matter, they’ve said loud and clear that they want to make sure that we continue moving the city forward, continue the advocacy work that we’re doing, do the doctor recruitment strategies,” says Hyggen.

Immediately after speaking with members of the local media, Hyggen headed up north to Edmonton for a series of meetings with ministers in the provincial government.

He plans to meet with a couple of other ministers in Calgary on his way back later this week.

“We just got to keep that advocacy work going. That’s what I found, was incredibly important for me to be elected again is I just get in the job right from day one, I just continue what we’ve already started. I’m happy to be able to do that.”

That advocacy will be important for Hyggen as he has made the attraction and retention of doctors a key component of his re-election campaign.

Healthcare is a matter of provincial jurisdiction, so while Hyggen cannot directly make health-related funding or hiring decisions, he says he can help ensure that doctors, among other professionals, want to live in Lethbridge.

“Those doctors live in our communities. We want to make sure it’s a place that those doctors want to move to. I’ve heard some, well, many comments saying, ‘Stay in your lane. You got nothing to do with doctors,'” says Hyggen. “Well, if myself as mayor and as my colleagues as counselors don’t help with those recruitment efforts by doing what we can to make our community a place that these doctors want to move, then what do we do?”

The third bridge across the coulees remained a contentious issue among the mayoral candidates.

While some mayoral candidates, such as Ryan Mennie, expressed outright support for building the bridge, others, including Hyggen, said it depends.

The City estimated in 2022 that the project would cost $188 million.

READ MORE: Lethbridge City Council debates feasibility of third bridge

There is currently no indication that the provincial or federal governments would help foot the bill, meaning that it could result in property tax increases between 14.5 and 22.1 per cent.

“You won’t get a bridge without having a tax increase unless we get the support 100% from outside the City of Lethbridge. But you know, if it’s some support from the City of Lethbridge, if it’s a partial amount, that still comes at a cost.”

The completion of the preliminary design is already in the city’s Capital Improvement Program for 2027.

Hyggen also addressed the low voter turnout in the election.

Only 17,102 people cast ballots, or about 19.3 per cent of the 88,647 eligible voters.

The mayor-elect believes that the Canada Post strike was a major reason why so few people voted, as they were not able to send out voter information cards in the mail.

“We did everything we could within the city, and that’s from website, from emails to, I mean, you folks on our local media, and online, but there’s many people that don’t use those methods, or at least not all of them. So having that mail strike did hurt us, and getting that out to all the candidates,” Hyggen explained. “However, I can guarantee you this, we did everything that we possibly could to make sure that people knew that to get out and vote.”

The results of the 2025 municipal elections will become official at noon on Friday, Oct. 24.

The City of Lethbridge is planning a swearing-in ceremony for all of the winners on Monday, Oct. 27, at 1:30 p.m. It will be livestreamed on the City’s YouTube channel.

More coverage of the 2025 municipal elections in Lethbridge here.