Medicine Hat elects Linnsie Clark as new mayor

A newcomer to politics has won a large victory in the Medicine Hat municipal election. Linnsie Clark claimed the mayor’s seat on Monday night, beating incumbent Ted Clugston in a landslide win. Clark won with 13,151 votes, compared to Clugston’s 4639. Clark is a lawyer with the City’s Solicitor Department. She took an unpaid leave of absence while running to become mayor. Clark says she decided to run for the city’s top job because she saw Medicine Hat’s values and priorities in the past few years start to drift away from those in the community.

“It’s critical for council to be transparent with each other. Make sure that we’re retaining those positive conflict relationships, and of course that’s going to translate to show we interact with the public and staff as well. Openness and respect for the people that we’re communicating with. Part of that openness is making sure that we are also open when other people don’t necessarily agree with our positions.”

Clark is also Medicine Hat’s first female mayor. The official results of the election will be declared this Friday.