With Sherman out, is it time for a turnover?

Edmonton-Meadowlark could be called a Pillsbury riding — it has more turnovers than a supermarket freezer.

The Liberals and Progressive Conservatives have split the west Edmonton electoral district evenly between them since it was created 44 years ago. They’ve exchanged the seat in each of the last four elections, although in 2012 Raj Sherman won as Liberal leader after a previous victory under the Conservative banner.

Now Sherman is retiring and, based on history, it should be the Conservatives’ turn.

But Liberal Dan Bildhauer and Conservative Katherine O’Neill insist past voter flipflops don’t mean anything this time around.

“People will vote for a change,” says Bildhauer, until recently gunning for the area’s federal Liberal nomination.

“Out of 4,000-5,000 doors I have knocked at, not one has expressed concern about this rotation.”

He sees the condition of Meadowlark’s Misericordia Hospital as the most important issue, but also argues opposition MLAs are needed to challenge the “inevitable” Tory majority.

O’Neill, daughter-in-law of former St. Albert PC MLA Mary O’Neill, says there are many new residents who don’t know Meadowlark’s history.

“In the last election, the Tory only lost by about 100 votes,” she says.

“One thing that happened was there was a Wildrose candidate who bled away about 2,000 votes.”

The current Wildrose contender, Amber Maze, was added to the ballot near Friday’s nomination deadline, but says her late entry into the race won’t hurt her chances.

“I have what the public is looking for in a candidate … I’m a great voice and a good listener.” She’s not sure if there will be another split between conservative voters.

O’Neill could also face fallout from last month’s controversial nomination race.

The party disqualified Tom Choucair after rival Steve Benson filed an affidavit alleging a representative of another campaign offered him cash to drop out.

Choucair says he did nothing wrong and many of the more than 500 members he signed up are so upset they won’t vote Conservative.

While Choucair doesn’t know what effect the dispute will have on the election, he won’t be working for the PCs.

“This party is not the party I signed up for.”

O’Neill says no one has raised the issue with her at the doorstep and it isn’t hurting fundraising or volunteer attraction.

Her supporters include former rival Benson, she says.

“I stand behind the party. When we got into the race, we had to sign a lot of documents that we were allowed to be vetted,” she said.

“They obviously came to a decision.”

NDP candidate Jon Carson says he’s hearing from disgruntled Tories unhappy with the budget, including health funding and the reduced charitable tax break.

Although his party has never come close to winning Meadowlark, he insists he has a chance at an upset.

“We’re always optimistic. The NDP has been working very hard to run a good campaign.” gkent@edmontonjournal. com