Kevin Klein expected to run for Winnipeg mayor, pushing candidate pool to 13

The number of mayoral candidates is expected to climb to 13 as a current councillor said he will throw his name into the mix.

Coun. Kevin Klein, (Charleswood – Tuxedo - Westwood) told CTV News that he plans to run in the upcoming mayoral election.

This comes after a Probe Research poll – which surveyed 622 adults - showed former mayor Glen Murray has 44 per cent support.

This is followed by Coun. Scott Gillingham at 16 per cent and former Liberal MP Robert-Falcon Ouellette at 13 per cent, both candidates are within the margin of error of the poll.

The poll also looked at potential candidates, such as Klein, and how much support they would receive.

It found that 36 per cent of decided voters would consider Klein for mayor.

"When I saw that, I was touched personally. But it energized me, I'll tell you that, to say Winnipeg wants change," said Klein.

Political science professor at the U of M Royce Koop said Klein could make the race even more interesting.

"It's hard to say how he'll affect the race at this point, but he's potentially an important candidate," said Koop.

He noted Murray is leading the way right now likely due to his name recognition but expects things to tighten up as the city gets closer to election day.

"We'll see more media coverage, we'll see more announcements from the candidates, we'll see more scrutiny."

Despite it being early on, Murray says he's encouraged by the numbers.

"I think we're doing well. Winnipeggers, God bless them, are being very supportive in large but you always have to look at next week," said Murray.

Both Gillingham and Ouellette know there is still plenty of race left.

"We're only halfway through the campaign, there's still over 90 days left before election day. It's the middle of summer, I'm not concerned," said Gillingham.

"As we start thinking about September, that's when the campaign really starts if you want to be honest, when people are going to start thinking about their real honest choices," said Ouellette.

The Probe Research conducted the survey online between July 14 and 15. Due to it being an online survey, Probe said no margin of error can be assigned, but noted a random and representative non-convenience sample of 622 adults would have a margin of error of ±4.0 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.