Star candidate does well in Chestermere
Incumbent Ted Morton, former cabinet minister, trailed in polls to newcomer Bruce Mcallister
After eight years and several high-profile cabinet posts, Progressive Conservative stalwart Ted Morton was on the verge of losing his seat Monday night in his tightly contested urbanrural riding.
While the Wildrose candidate was quietly celebrating a victory with his supporters more than an hour after the polls closed, Morton’s camp wasn’t convinced.
“It’s not over,” said Jordan Katz, Morton’s deputy campaign manager.
“There’s still a lot of polls to report and we will let the end results speak for themselves.”
Morton, who was trailing by roughly 2,000 votes, wasn’t available for comment at press time.
The longtime Tory ran in the newly restructured electoral district of Chestermere-rocky View and faced fierce opposition from newcomer Bruce Mcallister, a former television broadcaster.
Mcallister’s campaign team was taking its cues from the various media outlets declaring him as the winner shortly after the polls closed.
“I want you to know that I intend to be the best MLA you have ever had,” Mcallister told his supporters at the Chestermere Recreation Centre.
“If I do nothing else but represent you, meet with you, advocate for you or bring your concerns forward then I’ve been a good MLA,” h e said, to wild applause.
In the hours before t he polls closed, Morton’s campaign team remained out in the riding ensuring every Tory supporter cast a ballot.
“It’s possible that every single vote will count,” Katz said earlier in the evening.
Political observers predicted the writing was on the wall for Morton this time around as anger in the riding mounted over controversial government land bills and high voltage transmission lines.
But on Monday afternoon Katz said Morton’s support base is strong.
Sixty-two year old Morton represented the riding of Foothills Rocky View since 2004.
The U.s.-born university professor was twice defeated as a PC party leadership candidate and held three portfolios including finance and most recently energy.
He is also a former senator in-waiting.
Forty-one year old Mcallister, who lives in Chestermere, ran for the first time.
The riding of ChestermereRocky View was created in the 2010 Alberta boundary re-distribution and created from large portions of the old electoral district of AirdrieChestermere and FoothillsRocky View.
The new horseshoe-shaped district surrounds the western, northern and eastern boundaries of the city of Calgary and has a population of 43,699.
The NDP’S Nathan Salmon, 30, and Liberal Sian Ramsden, 24, also ran.