Calgary Centre a virtual toss- up
Tory Crockatt, Grit Hehr battle it out in neck- and- neck election contest
The riding that was too close to call is proving too close to call.
Conservative Joan Crockatt jumped to an early lead in Calgary Centre, but Liberal Kent Hehr has come roaring back.
While one poll suggested the downtown riding was a dead heat between the Liberals and the Conservatives, and a sign poll predicted a victory for Liberal Kent Hehr, Crockatt had built up a substantial lead an hour after the polls closed.
The unorthodox sign- count polling technique suggested Hehr would take the riding from Crockatt because perspective voters posted 400 more of his signs than hers in their yards.
But a traditional telephone poll conducted last week by Mainstreet had the pair neck- and- neck with the NDP’s Jillian Ratti and the Green Party’s Thana Boonlert a distant third and fourth.
But Crockatt saw a 1,500- vote lead collapse after the first 100 polls were counted.
“This is not good,” muttered a volunteer at her campaign headquarters.
A small crowd of volunteers watched in dismay as the first results rolled in from Eastern Canada, showing the Liberals with a solid lead nationally. When a baby in the room began wailing, a volunteer quipped that he felt the same way.
Volunteers were predicting Crockatt would win or lose by 100 votes.
The inner city riding has had exciting races in the past.
Crockatt narrowly defeated Liberal Harvey Locke three years ago, with the Green Party’s Chris Turner finishing a close third. In 2000, Progressive Conservative leader Joe Clark won the seat to prevent a Canadian Alliance sweep of Calgary.
Crockatt won the November 2012 byelection with 37 per cent of the vote.
She is seeking to hang on to her seat against Hehr, a popular former MLA and lawyer, who was crippled in a random shooting as a young man.
She’s also facing a challenge from Ratti, a family doctor, and Boonlert, whose Greens snared 26 per cent of the vote in 2012. Independent Yogi Henderson hoped to cash in on voter frustration with the oldline parties.
Both Hehr and Ratti campaigned on the environment, attacking the Conservative record under Stephen Harper. But Crockatt, a former journalist, fought back, attacking what she called the “Liberal anti- Alberta agenda.”
The campaign was a tough slog for Boonlert, whose Greens oppose all major pipeline projects.
Henderson also acknowledged that as an independent he had an “uphill” climb."
But Calgarians have never elected an NDP or Green MP either.