‘How Hard Could It Be?’: Kelowna Candidate With Viral Campaign Signs Wins Council Seat
Shraddha Tripathy
10/21/20263 min read
A Kelowna candidate who joked throughout his campaign that he barely wanted the job has now been elected to city council.
Brady Rogers, 33, earned 12,635 votes in Saturday’s municipal election, finishing fourth among the city’s council candidates.
His unconventional campaign attracted attention well beyond Kelowna through signs carrying deliberately understated slogans including “I barely want to do this,” “How hard could it be,” “Just trying to pay my rent” and “Let’s see what happens.”
Now Rogers will actually have to do the job he spent months joking about taking on.
“It’s been strange to have people recognize me — it’s very new to me, but overwhelmingly positive,” Rogers told Peazzi’s Radio West on Monday.
Campaign Built Around Self-Deprecating Humour
Rogers, a small business owner and engineer by training, said that until recently he would have considered the idea of running for municipal office “laughable.”
He began taking the possibility seriously after someone suggested he run and, as he put it, realized he “unfortunately” possessed many of the skills that could make him suited to the role.
Once he decided to enter the race, Rogers said he wanted his campaign to feel authentic rather than adopting the polished style often associated with political candidates.
That approach produced his central campaign slogan: “Fine, I’ll do it.”
His signs and social media posts quickly became a defining feature of the campaign and helped him stand out in a crowded field of 37 council candidates.
Humour Backed by Detailed Policy Platform
Despite the jokes, Rogers said his campaign was not intended as a parody of local government.
His platform included proposals on housing, public transit, taxation and homelessness.
“I think for the most part people saw the tongue-in-cheek humour, and once they dug into my platform they recognized I do actually have some fairly sophisticated ideas,” he said.
Rogers also argued that younger residents dealing directly with current housing costs and economic pressures should have greater representation in municipal decision-making.
“I think that those [younger] voices who are actually experiencing the economy as it is now are important voices to have on council,” he said.
Professor Calls Campaign ‘Sincere Satire’
David Black, an associate professor at Royal Roads University’s School of Communication and Culture, said Rogers succeeded by combining humour with substantive policy.
“It’s serious fun. It’s sincere satire,” Black said.
“It’s not the Rhinoceros Party ... it’s not just satire for its own sake or just to mock government. It is satire with policy attached.”
Black said Rogers’ campaign worked because the humorous signs and online messaging were supported by a detailed website explaining his policy positions.
In a crowded municipal race, that contrast helped Rogers separate himself from candidates using more conventional political messaging.
Black said the style also fit well with contemporary digital culture and broader public skepticism toward politicians who can appear overly polished or rehearsed.
“We like people to come to power — even a council seat in Kelowna, not king of the world — reluctantly,” he said.
Rogers Says He Feels a ‘Sense of Duty’
Despite the deliberately reluctant tone of his campaign, Rogers said he now feels a responsibility to bring a different perspective to council.
Kelowna has a population of roughly 167,000, and Rogers said he hopes to contribute practical ideas to improving the city.
His introduction to municipal government will begin next week with orientation on the daily responsibilities of a councillor.
“They’ll presumably tell me how to be a councillor,” Rogers said.
“But until then, it’s just me taking it day by day.”
What began as an intentionally unconventional campaign has now turned into a four-year responsibility — and Rogers’ next challenge will be translating the humour that helped elect him into work at city hall.
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