What to know about the Brandon East riding for Manitoba's 2023 election

• About the riding
• Voting history
• News stories from Brandon East
• Meet the candidates
• More CBC Manitoba riding profiles

Brandon East is the area east of 18th Street and south of the Assiniboine River to the city limits. The riding first appeared in a Manitoba election in 1969, when voters elected NDP MLA Len Evans, who stayed in office in the area until 1999.

The riding's population is 23,790, the division's profile says. The riding lost about 20 per cent of its northern geographical area to Spruce Woods when the Manitoba Electoral Divisions Boundary Commission redrew riding boundaries in 2018.

Brandon is Manitoba's second-largest city, with an official population of 51,313 in the 2021 census a five per cent jump from the 2016 census.

The southwestern Manitoba hub also serves surrounding communities and farmland and draws its workforce from 27 nearby municipalities, Economic Development Brandon says.

• Full coverage of the 2023Manitoba election

The median age of the riding's population is 34, says the riding profile prepared by the Manitoba Bureau of Statistics, based on information from the 2021 census.

More facts about Brandon East

• 22.2 per cent of the riding's population is immigrants, the province's riding profile says, which is a two per cent increase from the 2016 census.
• The city is a service centre for roughly 190,000 people in Brandon and surrounding areas, Economic Development Brandon says.

Voting history

The riding was an NDP stronghold until the 2016 provincial general election. Longtime NDP MLA Len Evans represented the area from its creation in 1969 until 1999, when NDP candidate Drew Caldwell won the riding. Then, in 2016, Progressive Conservative Len Isleifson beat Caldwell by 1,135 votes.

• 1969-95 elections: NDP.
• 1999-2011: Drew Caldwell (NDP).
• 2016, 2019: Len Isleifson (Progressive Conservative).

Brandon East in the news

• Vegas Golden Knights general manager brings Stanley Cup home to southwestern Manitoba
• Brandon's Daly Overpass closed for most of Thursday morning after train derailment
• Wide-open mayoral race in Brandon, but few candidates entering race so far
• Brandon Clinic closes walk-in services due to physician burnout and inadequate staffing: CEO
• Lockdowns end at 2 Brandon schools after possibly armed people fight outside
• Brandon pop-up park pilot project aims to support people who are unhoused

Meet the candidates

As of Sept. 1, the nominated candidates for the 2023 election are:

• Len Isleifson (Progressive Conservative incumbent).
• Trenton Zazalak (Liberal).
• Glen Simard (NDP).

Candidates become official when they meet criteria set out in the province's Elections Act, including providing a statement of disclosure, after the election has been called. In Brandon East, the three candidates are official.

Find more CBC Manitoba riding profileshere.