Alberta General Election - May 5th, 2015

[Holmes]

A one seat NDP majority wouldn't last long in Alberta. One vacancy or floor crossing is all it would take, and I don't think the Wildrose or PC party would play nice with an NDP minority.

[Holmes]

Question is whether the Tories hold or completely collapse like LPC '11/PC '93.

I wouldn't count them out yet. They still have the debates and two weeks to scare centrists back into the fold.

Maybe, but those two weeks can work against them too. We'll have to see how the debates go.

[Holmes]

I'm most excited to see some whacky results in ridings that no one expects. These will happen considering we have no idea how the NDP will really perform outside of Edmonton, especially in rural Alberta.

[Holmes]

More Alberta poll craziness: http://1abvote.ca/poll-ndp-in-a-qualified-lead-while-math-indicates-closing-gap-with-pcs/

lol....

[Holmes]

Prentice in danger of losing his seat to the NDP? I can't exactly say that I believe it. Then again, it's still hard to wrap my head around the fact that Alberta will be a different place after the election on Tuesday, and it looks to be the NDP that is going to lead that change.

[Holmes]

Final Forum poll shows 45/23/23.

[Holmes]

I'm more interested in seeing how many seats the PC's famed ground game can save them.

[Holmes]

I think extrapolating the results from the 44 votes counted is a bit hasty.

Um, no. It's freak out time now.

[Holmes]

I forgot what it's like to watch a Canadian election with a favourable outcome, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

[Holmes]

Alberta Party in the lead in Cardstron-Taber-Warner. Dark horse alert!

[Holmes]

CBC projects NDP government.

[Holmes]

Ouch, the PC Cabinet Minister I met a few months ago is in third place.

Ah, the kiss of death.

[Holmes]

NDP slipping.

[Holmes]

Gun to head: who wins Peace River?

[Holmes]

Was just looking at Wetaskiwin-Camrose when it went from PC to NDP, and brought the PC's seat count to single digits. lol

[Holmes]

Lots of NDP-PC slugfests going on.

[Holmes]

I'll think of all the pundits who predicted a PC government (some even said a majority) as I fall asleep tonight.

[Holmes]

Out of curiosity, who are some of the more interesting NDP/Wildrose candidates who won? I've heard that in terms of gender and ethnicity, the candidates were pretty diverse this time around, but I don't know much about them (besides Notley).

Some of may be just rumors, but Twitter and NP have given me this list of oddball NDPers:

A Chavismo supporter who defeated a PC incumbent by 40 points.
A CS university student.
A Poli Sci student.
Someone with Duck Dynasty-style facial hair. https://twitter.com/FailedProtostar/status/595780884076371969
An 18 year old
A barista
A yoga instructor
This young woman celebrating 420 on Facebook https://twitter.com/GlenStromquist/status/595969029556215809

The was a NPD candidate who was elected as MP from a riding in deepest Quebec, who said after her election that she had heard that the riding was a lovely place, and that she hoped to visit soon.  IIRC her French-language abilities did not go much past, "bon jour", but she had a French name.

Ruth Ellen Brosseau. She is now prefectly bilingual, various reports are saying she is quite liked in her riding, she is considered effective in House (she is deputy Agriculture critic) and she was elected by NPD MPs, vice-president of the NDP caucus. It's often shown as a success story.

Really? But she visited Las Vegas and can't speak French. I heard that her constituents lynched her in the streets and elected a statue of Harper as their new MP.

[Holmes]

We know it was about change. The better question would've been, why the NDP over the Wildrose?