Jamie A. Korab, ONL (born November 28, 1979, in Harbour Grace, Newfoundland) is a Canadian curler and politician. He was elected to the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly for the Liberal Party in the 2024 Waterford Valley provincial by-election. Korab was the lead for the gold medal-winning Canadian men's team at the 2006 Winter Olympics skipped by Brad Gushue. Prior to provincial politics, Korab served on St. John's City Council representing Ward 3 from 2017 to 2024.
| Jamie A. Korab | |
|---|---|
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| Born | November 28, 1979 |
| Team | |
| Curling club | Bally Haly Golf & Curling Club |
Curling career  | |
| Brier appearances | 8 (2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014) |
| Top CTRS ranking | 4th (2008–09) |
| Grand Slam victories | 1: The National (2010) |
Career
editKorab played in two Canadian Junior Curling Championships and three Briers before playing at the Olympics.
At the 1997 Canadian Juniors, he played as a third for Randy Turpin. At the 2000 Canadian Juniors, he joined up Gushue as his second and they went all the way to the junior finals that year, losing to British Columbia's Brad Kuhn in the final. It was his last year as juniors, so he had to leave the team, but rejoined them for the 2003 Nokia Brier. He would play as Gushue's second once again at the 2004 Nokia Brier and moved back to his lead at the 2005 Tim Hortons Brier. In 2005, the team added two-time world champion Russ Howard at second, which gave them a victory at the Canadian Olympic trials and a berth to the 2006 Olympic Games, where they won the gold medal, defeating Finland's Markku Uusipaavalniemi 10–4 in the final.
On April 5, 2007, it was officially announced that Korab was cut from the Gushue rink during a team meeting the night before. The move was said to be due to a team chemistry issue and not reflective of his curling ability. According to an interview aired on NTV news on April 5, 2007, there is speculation on Korab's part that the move may have been at least somewhat motivated by a verbal exchange between Korab and skip Brad Gushue some time before. It is also possible there was an issue between Korab and Chris Schille, the team's new second as of the beginning of the 2006–07 season.
For the 2007–08 curling season, Korab played second on a team consisting of Olympic teammate Mike Adam, Ryan LeDrew and Mark Noseworthy.
In April 2008, Brad Gushue announced that Korab would once again be a part of his team for the 2008–09 curling season. In 2010, after two seasons with Gushue, winning a Grand Slam of Curling and finishing a disappointing 4th at the 2009 & 2010 Briers, Korab decided to take some time off from curling. He helped to coach Heather Strong's rink from St. John's from the 2010–13 season. The team won the NL provincials and participated in the 2012 Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Red Deer. Korab's wife (Stephanie) was also on that team.
Korab was brought on to be Gushue's alternate at the 2013 Tim Hortons Brier and the 2014 Tim Hortons Brier.
Politics
editIn 2013, Korab ran for the Liberal Party of Newfoundland and Labrador's nomination in the riding of Carbonear-Harbour Grace for a by-election held there. Before the by-election was held, Korab withdrew from the race.[1][2]
In 2017, Korab announced his intention to run in the St. John's municipal election to represent Ward 3 of the city on the St. John's City Council.[3] He was easily elected, winning 63% of the vote. He was re-elected in 2021, with 47% of the vote.
On July 23, 2024, Korab was acclaimed as the Liberal Party of Newfoundland and Labrador candidate in the riding of Waterford Valley after the resignation of incumbent Liberal MHA Tom Osborne.[4] The Waterford Valley provincial by-election was scheduled for August 22, 2024.[5]
On August 22, 2024, Korab won the Waterford Valley provincial by-election and became a sitting Liberal MHA.[6]
Personal life
editKorab attended St. Francis High School. He is currently a Real Estate Agent with RE/MAX in St. John's.
Korab is married to Stephanie Korab, and the couple had their first child in 2013. It was the birth of his child that motivated Korab to step back from full-time professional curling in order to spend more time with family.
Korab is involved with many charities and currently sits on the board of directors for Kids Eat Smart.
Electoral record
edit| Newfoundland and Labrador provincial by-election, August 22, 2024 Resignation of Tom Osborne | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Liberal | Jamie Korab | 2,067 | 45.76 | -21.03 | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Jesse Wilkins | 1,423 | 31.50 | +6.43 | ||||
| New Democratic | Nicole Boland | 1,027 | 22.74 | +14.60 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 4,517 | |||||||
| Total rejected ballots | ||||||||
| Turnout | ||||||||
| Eligible voters | ||||||||
| 2021 St. John's city council election | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote[7] | % |
| Ward 3 | ||
| Jamie Korab (X) | 3,109 | 46.55 |
| Greg Noseworthy | 2,687 | 40.23 |
| Walter Harding | 883 | 13.22 |
| 2017 St. John's city council election | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate[8] | Vote | % |
| Jamie Korab | 5,079 | 63.02 |
| Peter McDonald | 1,710 | 21.22 |
| Walter Harding | 1,270 | 15.76 |
Awards
edit- Brier: Second Team All-Star, Second – 2004
References
edit- ^ "Contenders can't run in Carbonear-Harbour Grace byelection | SaltWire". Archived from the original on 2013-10-19.
- ^ "Liberals reclaim Carbonear-Harbour Grace". CBC News, November 26, 2013.
- ^ "VOCM - Jamie Korab Announces Campaign for Ward 3 Councillor". Archived from the original on 2017-05-17.
- ^ "Liberal Party Closes Nominations for Waterford Valley". Liberal Party of Newfoundland and Labrador. 2024-07-23. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
- ^ Kennedy, Alex (July 24, 2024). "Waterford Valley voters headed to the polls in late August for byelection". CBC News.
- ^ Arlette Lazarenko, "Jamie Korab holds Waterford Valley for the Liberals with byelection victory". CBC News Newfoundland and Labrador, August 22, 2024.
- ^ "Election Results".
- ^ "2017 Municipal Election - St. John's Board of Trade". Archived from the original on 2017-08-25. Retrieved 2017-08-24.
