Eight people are running against Dave Bronconnier for the mayor’s chair in this year’s civic election, including businessman Alnoor Kassam, 19-year-old engineering student Jeremy Zhao and 46-year-old Jonathan Joseph (JJ) Sunstrum who launched campaign by wearing his pajamas and buffalo slippers to city hall.

Candidates filed their nomination papers Monday, September 17. Only two aldermen — Diane Colley-Urquhart and Linda Fox-Mellway — were acclaimed because no one is running against them. (In 2004, four aldermen were acclaimed.)

In Ward 11, activist Brian Pincott and four others will be competing for outgoing alderman Barry Erskine’s seat. In Ward 8, Lindsay Luhnau — who until recently worked for Clean Calgary — will be competing against former cop John Mar and Conservative Steve Chapman to try and unseat Madeleine King.

King almost unseated herself on nomination day. At around 10 a.m., she tried to file her candidacy papers, but was rejected because some of her signature forms were improperly photocopied. The invalid forms left her 40 signatures short.

King hurriedly left city hall for Mission, where she asked customers in Starbucks and the Purple Perk for signatures. She arrived back at council chambers, proper forms in hand, just five minutes before the noon deadline. “Everybody makes mistakes,” a frazzled-looking King said afterwards.

Outside city hall, returning officer Barbara Clifford explained to reporters that King didn’t have her name and ward number marked on the top of some of her signature pages, making it legally impossible for people to know what they were signing for.

When asked if this has ever happened to an incumbent before, the no-nonsense Clifford replied: “To my knowledge, no, but I’ve only been here since the early ’90s.”

“Since the early ’40s?” joked a gutsy radio reporter.

“Nineties,” growled Clifford as she grabbed the reporter’s head and planted a kiss on its shiny, bald surface, much to the amusement of the other journalists. (JK)