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MLA Denise Woollard lost her party’s nomination contest in the redrawn riding of Edmonton-Meadows on Sunday, one of the NDP’s few contested races.

Insurance broker Jasvir Deol won the nomination to carry the NDP banner after facing off against Woollard and clinical psychologist Chand Gul on Sunday.

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The United Conservative Party announced Thursday that former Edmonton Eskimos president Len Rhodes will run in the riding. He lives in St. Albert.

Arundeep Singh Sandhu was the other prospective UCP candidate and said Monday he was disappointed with the outcome.

“I am disappointed that the thousands of conservatives here will not get an opportunity to decide which one of our neighbours will be on the ballot this spring,” he wrote in a Facebook post. “I’ve lived here in Mill Woods for thirty years, and I’ve seen southeast Edmonton grow and prosper over those decades.”

Woollard, the sitting MLA for Edmonton-Mill Creek, was elected in 2015. She previously worked as a university facilitator at the University of Alberta, an educational psychologist, a teacher and a school counsellor.

She has served as a member on several committees, including the standing committee on legislative offices and the standing committee on resource stewardship.

Premier Rachel Notley has yet to call a provincial election, but could have dropped the writ as early as Feb. 1, launching a 28-day campaign period. She is expected to call an election between March 1 and May 31.

cclancy@postmedia.com

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