‘Exciting’ turn for mayoral candidate

A small but steady stream of voters arrived at a Portage Avenue diner Sunday to meet Noah Redden, just two days after a new poll suggested the 27-year-old has emerged as a player in Winnipeg’s race for mayor.

Once a low-polling candidate, the software developer is now in third place with 14 per cent support, tied with candidate Mike Vogiatzakis, an Abacus Data survey released Friday shows.

Incumbent Scott Gillingham remains in the lead with the support of 36 per cent of decided voters — 19 percentage points lower than a September survey conducted by Abacus for the Free Press.

The new data placed former city councillor and Progressive Conservative cabinet minister Kevin Klein in second place with 19 per cent support — a drop of four percentage points since September.

The poll gave Redden the biggest jump (10 percentage points) — a sign his message is resonating with Winnipeggers, Redden told the Free Press Sunday at Dreamland Diner in St. James, where he shared his vision with voters.

“I’m feeling pretty good… Back in the last poll… I was still impressed by the amount of support then, considering I wasn’t really a public figure, as recently as June, but to see it increase as much as it has has been really exciting,” said Redden.

“I always knew going into this I would not be able to raise as much… so I knew that to make up that difference, I would have to go heavy on social media,”

“I really wanted to be in this race to make sure that the issues I care about got brought up — better investment in public transit, more compassionate care for the homeless in our city and people suffering from addictions.”

Redden, who’s run from the left of centre, has operated a grassroots campaign with a large focus on social media and few traditional media announcements.

“I always knew going into this I would not be able to raise as much donations as say Scott Gillingham, Kevin Klein or Mike Vogiatzakis, so I knew that to make up that difference, I would have to go heavy on social media,” said Redden.

“I’ve been very heavy on posting my platform on social media, in minute-sized chunks that are really digestible to a social media audience. I found that to be really effective, especially to reach younger voters, and I do want younger people to really get out and vote this election.”

Redden, an Osborne Village renter, ordered gluten-free chicken fingers that he ate between chats with those who came to pick up lawn signs or ask about his campaign.

Sandra Bender, 46, and mother Karen Klassen Bender, 71, were among Redden’s supporters who attended the event.

“I’m a big fan of Noah, love his platform,” said Bender, adding she thinks his plans for funding policy goals seem to make sense.

“I hate what Gillingham’s done to transit, I don’t love Gillingham shovelling homeless people off the streets with nowhere to go… Noah’s really the only candidate with a progressive platform in any way.”

Winnipeg Transit underwent a major overhaul in 2025 that sparked slews of complaints from some members of the public, while city council put in place a new bylaw earlier this year that prohibits encampments on public property, including parks, streets and walkways.

Klassen Bender, who runs a free lunch program at a downtown church for homeless and impoverished people, said she thinks the issues of homelessness and addiction need to be treated with compassion.

“You have to understand what people are going through,” she said.

“I hate what Gillingham’s done to transit, I don’t love Gillingham shovelling homeless people off the streets with nowhere to go… Noah’s really the only candidate with a progressive platform in any way.”

“I appreciate having a candidate (in Redden) who seems to have actually given it some thought and seems to have actually considered that these are people, and that people who don’t drive are people, and that people who don’t have big houses are also people. That’s the kind of thing I’m looking for.”

Asked whether Redden’s apparent surge in support has raised any concerns, Gillingham’s spokesman Colin Fast said the incumbent’s focus is his campaign.

“We’re going to keep focusing on our own campaign, and getting ready for election day when we’ll have 200 people mobilized throughout Winnipeg to get out the vote,” said Fast.

Fast continued to zero in on Klein — Gillingham’s main target throughout the election campaign.

“Mr. Klein is still a threat to this city and if people don’t want him then they should vote accordingly,” Fast said.

Klein questioned Abacus’s latest numbers, calling the data “fictional.”

Survey respondents were recruited from an online panel and by text message. No margin of error can be ascribed for the online poll. A margin of error for a comparable probability-based random sample of the same size is plus or minus 3.7 per cent, 19 times out of 20, Abacus said last week.

“This is not a legitimate poll,” Klein said.

“The firm itself has said no margin of error can be applied because the sample was not random — it was drawn from an online panel and text-message recruitment. That makes it closer to a question of the day than a proper public-opinion survey.”

Support for eight other candidates — Mazher Alam, Johnny Calderon, Christopher Clacio, Tracey Drexler, Brad Gross, Umar Hayat, Joshua Pagdato and Don Woodstock — ranged between seven and one per cent in the latest Abacus survey.

Voters go to the polls on Wednesday.

erik.pindera@winnipegfreepress.com

Erik Pindera
Reporter

Erik Pindera is a reporter for the Free Press, mostly focusing on crime and justice. The born-and-bred Winnipegger attended Red River College Polytechnic, wrote for the community newspaper in Kenora, Ont. and reported on television and radio in Winnipeg before joining the Free Press in 2020.  Read more about Erik.

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