While Albertans voted for a Progressive Conservative majority in the legislature, it appeared they had the same idea for candidates running in the senate race.
With more than half of polls reporting (4,130 of 6,765), the top three senate candidates were the three PC candidates: Doug Black at 16 per cent, Scott Tannas at 13 per cent and Mike Shaikh at 11 per cent.
However Albertans showed considerable support for the Wildrose candidates as well.
Two of the three Wildrose candidates were tied with Shaikh at 11 per cent, while the third candidate had 9 per cent of the vote.
Results are being updated here.
Alberta is the only province that allows voters to express their preference for who they would like the prime minister to name to the Senate. Three “senators-in-waiting” will be elected on April 23.
The next vacancy for an Alberta senator is expected to be created when Sen. Bert Brown retires. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said he will choose from the pool of three senators-in-waiting elected by Albertans.
Neither the Liberals nor the NDP ran candidates. Some have questioned the value of the $3-million election, given that no other province elects senators and the constitutional changes necessary to change the Senate’s powers and structure have not been made, nor are they likely in the near future.
The job comes with a base salary of $132,000.
Conservative Betty Unger was appointed to Senate most recently in January.
She was chosen as one of Alberta’s senators-in-waiting in 2004.
Unger, along with Liberal Sen. Joyce Fairbairn are next to retire after Sen. Brown.
Sen. Fairbairn will retire in 2014 while Unger retires in 2018.
The mandatory senate age of retirement is 75.
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