Kelly takes Rocky Ridge for Tories
Pat Kelly clinched Calgary Rocky Ridge for the Conservatives in a convincing victory, assuring supporters he was ready to help the party rebuild and stage a national comeback in four years.
Kelly said the Conservative message of sound economic management resonated well in his affluent, mainly suburban riding in northwest Calgary, though he acknowledged support across the country deteriorated.
“It’s going to be our job to ensure that we rebuild and that we become the governmentin- waiting, and that we are able to take it back in four years,” Kelly said in his acceptance speech.
Kelly took an early lead and didn’t falter after polls closed in Rocky Ridge, a new riding that comprises parts of others that have traditionally voted Conservative: Calgary Nose Hill and the former Calgary West constituency.
Liberal Nirmala Naidoo, who placed second in the riding, said she was up against a Tory stronghold where voters felt nervous about Alberta’s leftleaning NDP government and “didn’t want to take a chance” with the Liberals.
New Democrat Stephanie Kot, a former policy analyst with the federal government, placed a distant third.
“The vision for a better, more inclusive Canada resonated well with voters, and while it didn’t go toward the NDP this election, my opponents ran really tremendous campaigns,” Kot said.
A mortgage broker by trade, Kelly is a longtime Tory who served on former MP Diane Ablonczy’s constituency board. His victorious race in Rocky Ridge was his first campaign.
Kelly’s victory uplifted the spirits of supporters at his campaign headquarters who watched as disappointing national results poured in from television networks that ultimately declared a Liberal majority.
Kelly said his team ran as if they were 10 votes behind, organizing an impressive get- out- the- vote campaign that identified supporters and made sure they showed up to cast ballots. He said the welcome reception he got at the doors translated into his election Monday night.
“We door- knocked every day, every evening, and time after time it was clear that people were looking for economic management and believed in us,” he said.
Catriona Wright, the Green party’s contender, placed fourth in the riding.