Redford Tories expand hold in Edmonton
Despite what appeared to be a Wildrose party surge in some pockets of rural Alberta, Edmonton was poised to remain largely Tory blue Monday night, with the Progressive Conservatives leading in a whopping 14 of the city’s 19 ridings.
If the trend holds, the Tories will exceed their showing in the last provincial election.
In the 2008 provincial election, the Tories won 13 of the city’s then-18 ridings, the strongest showing they had managed in the capital since 1982.
The Conservatives were leading in all but five Edmonton ridings as of 9:25 p.m. Monday, including the new riding of Edmonton-south West, where newcomer Matt Jeneroux held a substantial lead.
The Liberals, who held three seats in the city when the election was called, seemed to be losing ground.
Liberal Party Leader Raj Sherman, who was elected in 2008 as a Conservative but crossed the legislature floor, was in a see-saw race with Tory Bob Maskell in Edmonton Meadowlark. At 9:25 p.m., Maskell was in the lead by fewer than 100 votes, with about half the polls reporting.
Edmonton-centre Liberal MLA Laurie Blakeman was ahead by several hundred votes in her riding at deadline, with about half the polls reporting.
The city’s splash of New Democrat orange likely will remain and may grow even larger, with former MLA David Eggen leading in Edmonton-Calder, a riding he narrowly lost in 2008 to Conservative Doug Elniski, who didn’t seek re-election this time.
In Edmonton-beverly-clareview, New Democrat candidate Deron Bilous was leading PC incumbent Tony Vandermeer, potentially doubling the size of the NDP’S two-member caucus to four.
New Democrat Leader Brian Mason was leading comfortably in his riding of Edmonton Highlands-norwood, while the city’s (and province’s) only other New Democrat MLA, Rachel Notley, had been declared elected in Edmonton- Strathcona.
The Wildrose Party, which had no seats in Edmonton before this election, looked like it was going to be shut out of the city, despite leading in some rural ridings around the province and in a couple of Calgary ridings.
The fledgling Alberta party was also unlikely to win any Edmonton seats, despite enthusiastic and active campaigns by candidates like Michael Walters in Edmonton-Rutherford and Sue Huff in Edmonton-glenora.
The Liberals, whose strong showing in Edmonton back in 1993 earned the city the nickname “Redmonton,” elected 12 MLAS to the legislature that year.
In this election, two of their four sitting MLAS — Hugh Macdonald and Kevin Taft — didn’t seek re-election.
In Alberta’s north, early results showed the Wildrose and Progressive Conservative candidates in a dead heat in two newly formed northern ridings in the Wood Buffalo region.
The reorganization of Alberta’s electoral boundaries in 2010 means the Wood Buffalo region will elect MLAS for two ridings in this provincial election — Fort Mcmurray-wood Buffalo and Fort McmurrayConklin.
With more than half of polls reporting in Fort McmurrayWood Buffalo, PC candidate Mike Allen held a slight lead over Wildrose incumbent Guy Boutilier.
Allen is a municipal councillor and small business owner in Fort Mcmurray.
Boutilier, former Fort Mcmurray mayor and Toryturned-wildrose MLA, had been elected to the legislature since 1997 by residents in this oil production region.
He ran in the Fort Mcmurray-wood Buffalo riding as a Wildrose candidate for the first time in this election after crossing the floor in 2009.
Don Scott, the Conservative candidate in the Fort Mcmurray-conklin riding, also held a slight early lead over Wildrose candidate Doug Faulkner with a little fewer than half of the polls reporting.