The UCP began its bid in Edmonton-Meadows with a controversial decision by Leader Jason Kenney to handpick a candidate without political experience.

On Feb. 21, Kenney appointed former Edmonton Eskimos General Manager Len Rhodes, who lives in St. Albert, as the riding’s candidate without giving the conservatives in the community a chance to vote. Arundeep Singh Sandhu, who was born and raised in the area, was critical of the decision, and the large Punjabi community in Edmonton-Meadows had his back.

“It’s the party before the individual when it comes to the UCP,” Rhodes said. “Two of the three candidates support me, one has remained quiet, but you know what? I have a lot of empathy for what they’ve done.”

John Brennan, a political analyst and Mayor Don Iveson’s former strategic adviser, believes Kenney’s move will backfire.

“By parachuting Len in, it turned off a lot of other UCP supporters in Edmonton-Meadows, especially in the South Asian community, and my guess is a lot of them have gone behind Jasvir Deol, so my guess is that it’s going to be really tough for Len in the days to come.”

Deol is the New Democrat candidate in Edmonton-Meadows. The insurance broker received the nomination over incumbent Denise Woollard.

“I’ve been living in this community 26 years. This is the community where I live, I got married, raised my children and I built my business.”

Amrit Matharu, the candidate for the Alberta Party, said people are wrong to call this a two-horse race. The 25-year-old has spent his whole live in Edmonton-Meadows, and believes he is the best choice for a younger generation.

“They’re kind of open to a new choice, open to a third choice,” Matharu told CTV News.

Maria Omar is the candidate for the Liberal Party. She is using the election to highlight a topic that is “very close” to her: seclusion rooms.

“Most of the time it’s elementary students, it’s kindergarteners who are left there alone and traumatized, and we have lots of kids who are coming out of those rooms and they are not ever able to attend that school.”

In March, Education Minister David Eggen signed a ministerial order to ban seclusion rooms starting Sept. 1.

The candidates said the issue they heard about most while door knocking was infrastructure. Residents want a new hospital and high school to accommodate the growing population in Edmonton-Meadows.

With files from CTV Edmonton’s David Ewasuk