Gillingham, Klein make appeals, former mayor backs Redden ahead of election day

Scott Gillingham is hoping for a sweet result Wednesday night. He spent the day touring all 15 wards in the city as Winnipeggers get ready to vote on whether he'll stay on as mayor. His first stop was at the Candy Maker Morden. My final pitch is that the other opponents in this race have spoken very negatively about Winnipeg and their view is really kind of tear it down, start over, start fresh. Gillingham says there's already a lot of good happening in the city. Yes, we have problems, we have a lot of good going on. Let's keep building Winnipeg together. I am optimistic. I believe in the good of the people of this city and that we have a strong, exciting future. Let's keep building Winnipeg together. I'm the candidate with the experience, with the required partnerships with senior levels of government and Indigenous governments to continue to move our city ahead. But Kevin Kline disagrees. He made an appeal of his own to voters about why they should vote for him. With 12 candidates on the ballot, vote splitting is a real risk. A vote for any other candidate is a vote for four more years of the status quo. Four more years of less police on the street, homeless and addiction crisis, higher taxes, arenas closed, and infrastructure not being attended to. There was also an endorsement made by former Winnipeg Mayor Glenn Murray on Tuesday. He's backing 27-year-old Noah Redden. Murray was the city's mayor from 1998 to 2004 and ran again four years ago. He was a frontrunner in that race, but the dynamic changed after CBC News reported he had been forced to leave the Pemina Institute. His departure happened after one year there, following complaints about his management, use of sexual innuendo, and physical harassment of an employee. Redden says they're serious allegations, but stressed Murray is endorsing him because of his platform. You know, better governance in the city, better priorities, and I think that's really what he's trying to speak to today. Nine other candidates are running to be mayor. Polls are open on Wednesday until 8 p.m. Gavin Axelrod, CBC News, Winnipeg.