The riding once held by former Premiers Ralph Klein and Alison Redford could be up for grabs, according to candidates running in the Calgary Elbow byelection.
Four of the five candidates running, interviewed by Global News, believe they’re either leading or a close 2nd.
Wildrose candidate Col. John Fletcher says based on internal polling, it’s a two-horse race.
“That’s exactly what the polling is saying. It’s either going to be Wildrose or its going to be PC,” said Fletcher.
“So either Mr. Dirks is ahead by two per cent, or I’m ahead by two per cent. So there is some swing there,” he added.
P-C Gordon Dirks agrees with his Wildrose opponent.
“It seems to be shaping up clearly into a two-way race between myself as the Progressive Conservative candidate and the Wildrose,” said Dirks.
But the Liberal candidate, corporate lawyer Susan Wright, says she’s a contender too.
“I think we are very close. I think the race is between the Wildrose, the PC’s and the Liberals,” said Wright.
And Alberta Party candidate Greg Clark says he’s been getting positive feedback from voters.
“The poll results that we put out are very consistent with what I’m hearing at the doors,” said Clark.
“The people of Calgary Elbow are ready for change and the response to our campaign has been fantastic. We are drawing votes from all other parties,” he said.
INTERNAL POLLING
While it’s common for candidates to conduct their own internal polling, Lori Williams, a Mount Royal University political analyst says their accuracy is questionable.
“Big grain of salt,” said Williams.
“You have got to be very, very skeptical about the accuracy of the polls. But even if they are accurate the race is dynamic and people may change their minds,” she added.
Only one candidate, Stephanie McLean who’s running for the NDP, concedes she’s not in the top two.
But McLean told Global News she still hopes to pull off a ballot box victory.
Only the Alberta Party has publicly released its internal polling numbers for Calgary Elbow. When requested by Global News, the PC Party and Liberal Party provided partial polling results. The Wildrose Party did not provide any data to back its claims.
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