LETHBRIDGE:  Nominations for Lethbridge's February 1st byelection have now closed, with 10 names on the unofficial candidate list.

Eighty per cent of the people in this race also ran in the last election, including Bal Boora, Jeffrey Coffman, Rod Hoeg, Kevin Layton, Lea Switzer and Ken Tratch.

Newcomers Wade Galloway and George McCrea are the only two people who didn't run last October 18.

There were two surprise nominations from candidates who didn't declare ahead of time: Kay Adenyi ran in October's mayoral race and Blaine Hyggen is a return aldermanic candidate.

The public will have a chance to meet the candidates at Lethbridge's first election forum January 11th  from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Lethbridge Public Library.

A second and third forum are scheduled for January 13th and 18th on the west side.