Former Winnipeg mayor Glen Murray is endorsing 27-year-old Noah Redden in the race to lead the city, a day before voters go to the polls. “Noah Redden represents a new generation of municipal leadership. He has the vision, integrity, pragmatism and commitment to community that Winnipeg needs,” Murray said in a statement shared by Redden’s campaign Tuesday. “While other candidates are busy tearing each other down, Noah Redden is focused on building our city up. At a time when Winnipeg desperately needs fresh thinking, practical solutions and a renewed sense of possibility, Noah stands out as a candidate who understands how great cities work — and, more importantly, how to make them work better for everyone.” Murray served as Winnipeg’s mayor from 1998 to 2004. He also ran for mayor in 2022, narrowly losing to Scott Gillingham by just over two per cent of the vote. He was considered a front-runner during the campaign trail, prior to a CBC story that reported allegations about his conduct at a former workplace. The statement said Murray praised Redden’s platform, including investing in public transit and planning for light rail, prioritizing repairs to the Arlington and Louise bridges, and tackling homelessness and addictions with housing, treatment and prevention. “Let’s stop managing our city’s decline and start building its future,” the statement read in part. “Noah brings the practical, problem-solving mindset of someone accustomed to turning ideas into working solutions.” In an interview Tuesday, Redden said Murray reached out Monday about the endorsement. “I’m really happy to have his support behind me,” said the software developer. He said he has also received the endorsement of former Winnipeg mayoral candidate Shaun Loney, who finished fourth in the 2022 race. “It’s really inspiring, and it’s good to send a message to Winnipeg that I am the candidate with the best vision to really make the city shine.” “I always knew that I had a pretty solid campaign, but the last few days have seen a really dramatic increase in support,” he said. Redden acknowledged he ran a less traditional campaign than some of his rivals. He said he balanced the race with a full-time job and was only able to take time off work for the last two weeks. He said more news releases “would have been better to get more of that mainstream traditional media support.” He said he relied heavily on social media instead, and he sees it as an advantage for a candidate with a smaller war chest. “I really do think social media is a great tool to get out and reach people, and it is a lot more accessible to a grassroots candidate like myself,” Redden said. “I don’t have the same budget as someone like Scott Gillingham or Kevin Klein.” An Abacus Data poll conducted for the Winnipeg Free Press suggests 14 per cent of decided voters would pick Redden among the dozen mayoral candidates, putting him in a tie for third with Mike Vogiatzakis. Gillingham led with 36 per cent, followed by Kevin Klein at 19 per cent. Redden’s support is up 10 percentage points from the previous Abacus poll in September. Abacus said the incumbent Gillingham still looks poised to be re-elected, though his support among decided voters is down from 55 per cent in September. The survey of 685 Winnipeg residents aged 18 and older was conducted online from Oct. 16 to 22. Abacus said no margin of error can be attributed to online surveys, but the margin of error for a comparable probability-based random sample of the same size is plus or minus 3.7 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. With files from CTV’s Jeff Keele
