With all their incumbent MLA's now nominated, there are some interesting nomination races shaping up around the province.
Kent Hehr and Keith Purdy have both declared their intention to seek the Alberta Liberal nomination to run for election in Calgary Buffalo in the next Alberta Provincial Election.
Kent Hehr is a 35 year-old quadriplegic lawyer with Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP. Hehr is also the President of the Canadian Paraplegic Association (Alberta) and Chairman of the City of Calgary Advisory Committee on Accessibility.
Keith Purdy is a Calgary-based same-sex rights advocate. Interestingly, Purdy ran for the Alberta NDP in the 2001 Provincial Election in Calgary Mountain View, and the Federal NDP in Calgary South Centre in 2004. Does Purdy's move to the Alberta Liberals signal a shift of New Democrat support to the Liberals in Alberta?
Here are the 2004 Provincial Election results from Calgary Buffalo:
Harvey Cenaiko, PC - 3,365 (43.5%)Calgary Buffalo has been represented by Solicitor General Harvey Cenaiko since 2001 and was previously represented by Alberta Liberal MLA's Sheldon Chumir (1986-1992) and Gary Dickson (1992-2001).
Terry Taylor, AbLib - 2,815 (36.4%)
Grant Neufeld, Grn - 670 (8.7%)
Cliff Hesby, NDP - 457 (5.9%)
Nadine Hunka, AA - 294 (3.8%)
Elizabeth K. Fielding, SC - 73 (0.9%)
Carl Schwartz, AP - 56 (0.7%)
Voter Turnout - 7,730 (31.5%)
As usual, it should be a close race come next election.
That's all very nice, but how far will all this take them? The last poll saw the Alberta Liberals drop by almost 50% from their provincial election result (Nov. 2004) - despite Klein's Third Way and other shenanigans. One would have expected a boost in their "ratings", but not such a colossal drop.
ReplyDeleteIn my electoral district, the Alberta Liberals don't even have 4 registered members.
Alberta politics seem to work in a weird way with polls, not that I would really trust them in the first place. I always like to look at the poll right before the 1997 election that had the Liberals at 18% and on the road to winning 2 seats.
ReplyDeleteOn election night, they took 32% and won 18 seats.
I am confident that the Alberta Liberals are in a position to gain seats in the next election, regardless of what a Calgary Herald poll says.
I don't much believe in polls either. I'd rather talk to people in my constituency and around town, and I have yet to find anyone who has voted or would vote Liberal. This is more telling than any poll out there.
ReplyDeleteGain seats? Bleh.
ReplyDeleteThey'll still be in opposition. :)
They'll be lucky if they don't finish third (behind the Alberta Alliance party, or something like that).
@Toronto Tory: Plus we have a rule here in Alberta: an opposition party is NEVER elected into government.
ReplyDeleteRule #2: any "dynasty", after having been removed from power, NEVER EVER is returned to power. The Alberta Liberals already had their shot at running this province, and that's it. When a dynasty gets eventually removed, it is replaced by a spanking-new party that Albertans, resourceful as they are, create from scratch.
As for the Alberta Alliance, I hardly can see a groundswell of support for those wackos outside 5 or 6 deep rural ridings.
ReplyDeleteConsidering Alberta has only seen 3 changes in government over the past 100 years, I'd hardly consider that a rule, werner.
ReplyDeleteAlso, how could your first rule ever be true? Any party not in government is an opposition party... Peter Lougheed was official opposition leader before he formed government.
This one is pretty bizarre to me, because as of late last year, I could have sworn that Kent Hehr was already the nominated candidate. I remember reading it on the Calgary Buffalo constituency page.
ReplyDeleteKnow any other nominated candidates in other ridings, Dave? I think Sherwood Park has a nomination vote next month.
Read the truth about Werner Patels
ReplyDelete