There's 5 months until the N.W.T. election — here's who's planning to run so far

The next Northwest Territories election is five months away to the day, but with more than a dozen people having confirmed their intentions to run, the campaign already feels well underway.

CBC News reached out to all the current MLAs, as well as a handful of others who have announced they'll be making a bid or have been rumoured to be running, in the 2023 general election. 

So far, 15 people have said they plan to run for a seat in the Legislative Assembly this year. They've either announced their intentions online or told CBC directly. 

Seven of them are current MLAs seeking re-election; two are former MLAs looking to reclaim their old seats; and six are fresh to territorial politics, though most of these newcomers have spent time in the public eye in some capacity.

This is not yet a complete list. Four MLAs didn't respond to CBC's calls, texts or emails (Paulie Chinna, Premier Caroline Cochrane, R.J. Simpson and Jane Weyallon Armstrong), two didn't want to disclose their plans just yet (Kevin O'Reilly and Lesa Semmler), and four said they haven't yet decided whether they'll make another run (Diane Archie, Julie Green, Rocky Simpson and Shane Thompson).  

Jackie Jacobson couldn't speak when reached by CBC.

Yellowknife North MLA Rylund Johnson has said he won't be going for a second term. 

Of course, many more people will likely announce bids in the coming months. There are still 124 days until the writ is issued on Sept. 4, and residents have until 2 p.m. on Sept. 8 to submit their nomination papers. 

Here are the MLA hopefuls we know of so far:

*incumbents

Last October, MLAs rejected proposed changes to the territory's electoral map, meaning the same 19 districts will be up for grabs this year.

Election day is Oct. 3.