A Brandon-area advocacy group that wants to see more women in local politics is pleased with the growing number of women running for municipal positions in the coming elections, and now it wants to give them and anyone else running a little insight into what the process will look like.
Her Seat at the Table is hosting a candidate support school on September 2 at the Backyard on Aberdeen from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. that will offer “the opportunity to be schooled on the ins and out of campaigning for city council with guidance from those who have done it before.”
“We ran some focus groups a couple of years ago to try and determine why there was a hesitation from women to run for city council, and what were some of the barriers,” said Tracy Baker of HSATT. “We were hoping to help with some solutions, and the general consensus is basically that we don’t have a gender balance on Brandon City Council. We feel it’s important that there is a balance, just like there is for any other board or corporations with people sitting around the board room.”
According to HSATT, the event will be offering information on activities during campaigning, what to include in print media, what steps to take, setting up a team and more. The goal of the Candidate Support School is to offer the opportunity to identify skills, create whys, as well as guidance on the nomination process.
“We were working with a council that has one female and ten male members, we felt it was important to increase those numbers on the female side to have a voice,” said Baker.
This will be the third event HSATT has put on for this election cycle, the most recent coming in March, and it is having an impact. Baker said not only are they pleased to see four women running for City Council, but women in rural areas have been reaching out to them as well.
“There has been one person who’s come forward who lives outside of the city,” she said, “that said she has decided to run for municipal politics due to the fact that we’ve had this initiative running.”
The deadline to register is August 26th, 2026. Attendees will receive resources that will help guide them through their own campaigns. Registration is $25 for materials and is required before Aug. 26th by emailing hsatt2026@gmail.com.
