kelownaelections.ca

Kevin Aaron Kraft

Candidate for Councillor

Background

Kevin Aaron Kraft is the elected Director for the Central Okanagan East Electoral Area on the Regional District of Central Okanagan (RDCO) board and Chair of the RDCO Electoral Area Services Committee. He is a first-time Kelowna city council candidate; his prior Elections BC filing is for Electoral Area Director with the Central Okanagan Regional District, not for a City of Kelowna office.

Kraft has described his career background as spanning multiple fields: regional firefighter, farmer, teacher, business owner, and sports coordinator. He has eight years of employment at UBC Okanagan and is an alumnus of both Okanagan College and UBC.

He currently holds numerous board and committee positions, including: East Electoral Area Director; Electoral Area Services Committee Chair; OBWB Board Director; Airport Advisory Committee Board Member; Board Member of SIR (Okanagan Similkameen Invasive Species), Okanagan Film, and the Okanagan Regional Library; Okanagan Sun Board Director; KMFA Board Director; Thunderbird Football Association Board Director; Syilx Collaborative Leadership Table Representative; and Outdoor Operations Manager at Homestead Foods.

Kraft ran as an Independent candidate in the 2024 BC provincial election in the Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream riding. At the time, he was serving as RDCO vice-chair.

2026 Campaign

Kraft announced his candidacy for Kelowna city council on August 26, 2026. He has stated his campaign will focus on "responsible growth, families and community and protecting Kelowna's future."

His campaign site outlines policy sections on: Public Safety and Crime; Affordable Housing and Development; Transportation and Infrastructure; Agriculture and Emergency Preparedness; and Local Economy and Small Business.

Kraft has said: "As a father, I'm thinking about what Kelowna will look like twenty or thirty years from now. Growth doesn't have to mean losing the things that make our community special. I want my kids and other families to have the opportunity to build a good life here for generations to come."

During his 2024 provincial run, key issues included the Rutland Middle School replacement, fresh-water management and retention, agriculture, and forestry and wildfire preparedness.

He was listed among the 37 confirmed councillor candidates.

In an undated ForChange Kelowna candidate questionnaire, Kraft elaborated. On safety, he said the City's strongest long-term lever is expanding sport, recreation and youth programming for proactive intervention. On agriculture and emergency preparedness, he called for planning coordinated water management from upper reservoirs to valley bottom and shifting from premium event-policing toward more permanent officers, improved fire apparatus and expanded EMS support. On transportation, he proposed eliminating much of the commercial parking-lot access directly onto the highway and making more sensor-triggered left-turn lanes permanently active.

In an undated Strong Towns Kelowna candidate questionnaire, Kraft added detail. On housing, he said he is "not the biggest fan" of "boxes in the sky" and supports practical infill and incremental density over towers, favouring smaller family-oriented forms such as smaller detached homes, duplexes and appropriately scaled townhomes in existing neighbourhoods. On transit, he called for better connections from outlying areas to frequent and rapid routes. On finances, he proposed establishing four-year strategic priorities, an independent municipal-operations review, and evaluating capital projects on full lifecycle costs. On a hypothetical $1-million grant, he said he would split it between grants for community nonprofits and for farm irrigation improvements, citing a roughly 15% water-use reduction from such upgrades on his own farm.

At the second Castanet election forum (Revelry Kelowna, September 24, 2026), Kraft called the Province's cancellation of FireSmart funding "shortsighted" (it is reinstated for 2027) and argued the Oliver correctional centre should remain for criminals rather than be converted to involuntary care, with involuntary care instead located closer to home. He said he is prepared for council to "say no" to the provincial government where it would otherwise fund or enable issues the city faces. On the economy, he called for a "truly diverse economic portfolio" — manufacturing, technology, and design — rather than tourism and development alone, and gave the current council a "C++" grade.

Campaign site: https://kevinkraft.ca/

Social media:

Contact: kevin.kraft@rdco.com (RDCO official email; campaign site uses on-site contact form only)

Questionnaire responses

Did not respond to the Kelowna Elections questionnaire (deadline October 2, 2026).

Registered campaign links

From the official candidate registration record; presence here is not an endorsement.

Financial agent: Amber Nillson

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