Two University of Manitoba students who ran for school trustee have lost their respective races in Winnipeg’s municipal election.
When the polls closed on Oct. 22, Tanjit Nagra and Luigi Imbrogno were both defeated.
In Louis Riel School Division – Ward 1, Nagra placed third among three candidates, receiving 2,956 votes. Candidates Louise Johnston and Cindy Turner received 6,484 and 4,979 votes, respectively, and with two seats to be filled both candidates were elected.
In Winnipeg School Division – Ward 1, Imbrogno placed sixth among seven candidates, receiving 561 votes. Candidate Sherri Rollins was elected to the ward’s single seat with 2,324 votes. Heather Cardona received 2,044 votes, Sheri Oberman received 784 votes, Paul Guise received 661 votes, David Lobson received 609 votes, and Marilyn Simon received 477 votes.
Nagra told the Manitoban that she was happy with the amount of support she saw from voters and volunteers.
“At first I was—as normal—a little discouraged because I had put in a lot of time and effort into my campaign. However, after a few days I had a lot of time to reflect on the whole process and the past few months and it was a very, very rewarding experience. I learned a lot about the electoral process and a lot about myself as well.
“For a young candidate, I think I did very well. And in the future I’d love to put my name forward again. Obviously in 2018 we’ll have to see what I’m up to then. But I mean it’s definitely something I’d love to do in the future.”
When asked if she would consider running for office in other levels of government, Nagra did not rule it out.
“I’m all about new opportunities and new experiences. If a new opportunity does pop up at anytime I would for sure look into it. I mean, four years is a long time. At the beginning of 2014 I didn’t know I was running for trustee. I just knew I wanted to be involved. And then April, May is when I really started looking into trusteeship. So just in a few months I encountered a new opportunity. So four years from now, you never know.
“This whole process has been so humbling and so positive. I personally think I ran a positive and strong campaign and I hope other people saw that too.”
Imbrogno was also happy with his first jump into municipal politics.
“I’m very happy about the results [ . . . ] For 561 people to actually go to a polling location with the intention of voting for me made me feel amazing.”
Imbrogno also did not rule out future bids at political office, saying that he was not discouraged by his sixth-place finish.
“This experience definitely motivates me to pursue public office in the future. I’ll just have to start earlier and campaign more!”
Both students will continue to hold elected positions at the U of M. Nagra remains the vice-president of the U1 Student Council until the end of December and also serves as the vice-president external for the Undergrad Political Studies Students’ Association. In January, Imbrogno will be starting a year-long term as president of the U1 Student Council.
