CALGARY --
Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi will not seek re-election in the October municipal vote.
The now 49-year-old has held office for the last decade, first being elected in 2010 after starting as a largely unknown figure, he defeated then-city alderman Ric McIver and former CTV Calgary News anchor Barb Higgins in a close race. He then won easily in 2013 and again in 2017.
Nenshi made the announcement he won't run for re-election in 2021 during a Facebook Live session on Tuesday.
After being swept into office on a wave of support dubbed the Purple Revolution — which was one of the earliest to adopt social media as a central strategy and use it to engage younger voters — Nenshi became best known for his handling of the 2013 flood, where he was seen as a calm, stable voice during what was then the costliest natural disaster in Canadian history.