Lethbridge mayor Blaine Hyggen comments on the projected by-election win for Rob Miyashiro in Lethbridge-West. (Photo: Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

Incoming MLA Miyashiro a strong voice for the community: Lethbridge mayor

Dec 20, 2024 | 8:49 AM

The mayor of Lethbridge is welcoming the man who is projected to become the next MLA for Lethbridge-West.

Blaine Hyggen is commenting on this week’s by-election, which saw the Alberta NDP’s Rob Miyashiro win an estimated 53 per cent of the votes.

Before Miyashiro shifted his focus to provincial politics, he served two terms on Lethbridge City Council alongside Hyggen.

Hyggen says that even though the two did not always agree on everything, he greatly respects Miyashiro.

“He has a very strong voice and he had a strong voice on council and he’ll continue that in his MLA work. Rob is dedicated to helping those throughout our community, so I, you know, I do wish him well. He was a very strong councilor on city council,” says Hyggen.

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The mayor maintains that the pair always had a good working relationship and have remained in contact, even after Miyashiro decided not to run for re-election on city council in 2021.

“We’re non-partisan here at municipal government, and so we want to make sure that we do what’s best for the community of Lethbridge,” says Hyggen. “I’ll be welcoming Rob on a regular basis to touch base with him and how he can, you know, help us within our community, as well as Lethbridge-East with Minister [Nathan] Neudorf.”

It was an interesting by-election race for Hyggen as he has also gotten to know the projected runner-up, John Middleton-Hope, quite well over the past three years.

Middleton-Hope is a current member of city council and is serving his first term.

“I commend them on their work, both Rob Miyashiro with the win and Councillor Middleton-Hope, which, he’ll be back on council, but John Middleton-Hope and the work that he did because you know, it’s not easy out there. The temperatures haven’t been really welcoming to getting in and knocking on those doors, but I know both of them had incredible campaigns,” says Hyggen.

You can learn more about the unofficial results of the Lethbridge-West by-election in the link below. The results should be finalized on December 28, 2024.

READ MORE: Rob Miyashiro projected to win Lethbridge-West by-election

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