Rakhi Pancholi (born 16 August 1977) is a Canadian politician who was elected in the 2019 Alberta general election to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta representing the electoral district of Edmonton-Whitemud. Born to Tanzanian and Indian parents,[1] she is a lawyer in Edmonton with a focus on education law.[2]
Rakhi Pancholi | |
|---|---|
 Pancholi in July 2023 | |
| Deputy Leader of the Alberta New Democratic Party | |
| Assumed office June 24, 2024 | |
| Leader | Naheed Nenshi |
| Preceded by | Christina Gray |
| Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Edmonton-Whitemud | |
| Assumed office April 16, 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Bob Turner |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 16 August 1977 Ontario, Canada |
| Political party | Alberta NDP |
| Residence(s) | Edmonton, Alberta |
| Alma mater | University of Alberta University of Toronto |
| Occupation | Lawyer |
| Website | https://www.voterakhi.ca/ |
On 8 February 2024, Pancholi announced that she is running for Leader of the Alberta NDP.[citation needed]
On June 24, 2024, the new leader of the New Democratic Party, Naheed Nenshi, appointed Pancholi as the Deputy Leader of the New Democratic Party.[3]
Education
editPancholi completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Alberta, majoring in history and political science. She studied law at the University of Toronto, with a focus on Constitutional Law.
Career
editPancholi was a practising lawyer in Edmonton with a focus on labour/employment and education law. She has experience working with the Alberta School Boards Association and was a senior legislative consultant for Alberta Education.[4]
Pancholi helped to establish LEAF's "No Means No" (NMN) program in 2007 which focused on youth and sexual assault issues.[5] Between 2008 and 2013 Pancholi worked for the Alberta government in the Alberta Education Department. During that time she led the drafting the Education Act.[6] Pancholi also worked for Alberta school boards.[6]
In 2019 Pancholi entered politics and was elected Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Edmonton-Whitemud.
Personal life
editPancholi has two young children with her husband Owen, and have two rescue dogs as they are both advocates for animal rescue and adoption.[4]
Electoral history
edit2023 general election
edit| 2023 Alberta general election: Edmonton-Whitemud | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| New Democratic | Rakhi Pancholi | 12,797 | 60.40 | +11.22 | ||||
| United Conservative | Raj Sherman | 7,799 | 36.81 | -2.63 | ||||
| Liberal | Donna Wilson | 370 | 1.75 | – | ||||
| Green | Cheri Hawley | 221 | 1.04 | – | ||||
| Total | 21,187 | 99.29 | – | |||||
| Rejected and declined | 152 | 0.71 | ||||||
| Turnout | 21,339 | 64.65 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 33,005 | |||||||
| New Democratic hold | Swing | +6.92 | ||||||
Source(s)
Source: Elections Alberta[7] | ||||||||
2019 general election
edit| 2019 Alberta general election: Edmonton-Whitemud | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| New Democratic | Rakhi Pancholi | 11,373 | 49.18% | -8.27% | ||||
| United Conservative | Elisabeth Hughes | 9,120 | 39.44% | 0.86% | ||||
| Alberta Party | Jonathan Dai | 2,335 | 10.10% | – | ||||
| Freedom Conservative | Jason Norris | 297 | 1.28% | – | ||||
| Total | 23,125 | – | – | |||||
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | 63 | 76 | 18 | |||||
| Eligible electors / turnout | 32,810 | 70.73% | 10.33% | |||||
| New Democratic hold | Swing | -7.75% | ||||||
Source(s)
Source: "46 - Edmonton-Whitemud, 2019 Alberta general election". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved May 21, 2020. Alberta. Chief Electoral Officer (2019). 2019 General Election. A Report of the Chief Electoral Officer. Volume II (PDF) (Report). Vol. 2. Edmonton, Alta.: Elections Alberta. pp. 180–183. ISBN 978-1-988620-12-1. Retrieved April 7, 2021. | ||||||||
References
edit- ^ "Rakhi Pancholi | Alberta Democrats | Ladies Corner with Tee – Jacana Books". Archived from the original on 2019-04-30. Retrieved 2019-04-30.
- ^ "Top down or grassroots? NDP, UCP take differing approaches to gender balance | CBC News".
- ^ "NDP leader Naheed Nenshi makes changes to party leadership". City News. Rogers Sports & Media. 24 June 2024. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
- ^ a b Pancholi, Rakhi. "Elected Members". Legislative Assembly of Alberta.
- ^ "Branch Highlights" (PDF). 2007/2008 LEAF/FAEJ Annual Report: 5. 2008.
- ^ a b Bellefontaine, Michelle (June 17, 2019). "Education minister walks back earlier statement on Alberta GSA protections". CBC. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
- ^ "46 - Edmonton-Whitemud". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
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