Évelyne Beaudin

In 2011, Beaudin was one of the founders of Option nationale, a centre-left nationalist political party in Quebec.[6] She first ran for office as a candidate for Option nationale in the 2012 Quebec general election in the riding of Sherbrooke.[7] She came in fifth place, winning just over 1000 votes, or 2.8% of the vote. The following year, she first ran for municipal office in the 2013 municipal elections, as an independent candidate for Sherbrooke City Council in the Carrefour District in the city's west end. In the election, she finished second behind the incumbent councillor, Pierre Tardif. She won 969 votes, just over 200 votes behind Tardif.[8] She ran again for Option nationale in the 2014 Quebec general election, this time in the nearby riding of Mégantic. She once again placed in fifth place, with just 236 votes, worth 0.9% of the vote.

In 2016, she founded the Sherbrooke citoyen municipal political party.[9] The same year she became a member "Collectif pour l'équité toponymique au Québec" (Collective for toponymic equity in Quebec), a group which advocates for better female representation in place names in the province.[10][11] She ran again for city council in the 2017 municipal elections in Carrefour District for her new Sherbrooke citoyen party.[12] This time, she was successful, winning 2,042 votes, defeating Tardif by nearly 200 votes. She was the only member of her party to be elected to council. The following year, she replaced Hélène Pigot to become leader of Sherbrooke citoyen.[13]

In March 2021, she announced she was running for mayor of Sherbrooke in the 2021 municipal elections.[14] Her campaign focused on better financial management and protecting the environment,[15] and made public transit one of her priorities.[16] In the election, she defeated former Quebec cabinet minister and Liberal MNA for Sherbrooke Luc Fortin and incumbent mayor Steve Lussier.[17][18] She defeated Fortin by just under 1,000 votes, winning 41% of the vote.