I think there have been 'loose slates' for a long time, where like minded candidates help each other out. Some of these have been endorsed by parties, and others are just slates where there is no tacit endorsement or anything, but its close. I've definitely seen examples of candidates supporting other candidates and endorsing them based on party affiliation at other levels. You'd have to be pretty naïve to think that everyone running for council is just a concerned citizen with no affiliations to any political group. When you're talking about raising $100k, putting up signs, designing literature, etc. it's more than that.
The one thing that strikes me as a little odd is that so many Nenshi supporters seem offended by this notion that developers would support candidates friendly to their cause. Why would you suppose that Nenshi was getting cheques from Park n Jet (or those types of places) in 2010? It wouldn't be his support of the airport tunnel, would it?
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