UCP holds narrow lead with upcoming election set to be political horserace: ThinkHQ
A new political poll crafted by ThinkHQ Public Affairs says if an election were held in Alberta today, voters would be split on who should form the next government.
In its findings, ThinkHQ found 48 per cent of those surveyed support Premier Danielle Smith and the United Conservative Party while 45 per cent support Rachel Notley’s New Democrats.
“The next provincial election is shaping up to be one of the most competitive in Alberta’s history,” said Marc Henry, president of ThinkHQ.
“As it sits today, the NDP can capture 20 seats out of Edmonton without breaking a sweat, and the UCP can say the same for most of the constituencies outside of the two biggest cities.”
The poll shows Calgary will be the battleground, with Henry saying that will be where the election is won or lost.
Twenty-six seats are up for grabs, 29 if you include those outside the Calgary metropolitan area.
The premier’s office says the UCP are focused on “keeping life affordable, health care delivery, job creation and economic diversification and ensuring Albertans feel safe in their communities.”
“For months, United Conservative MLAs have been meeting with constituents to discuss their priorities and those messages have been heard loud and clear,” said spokesperson Taylor Hides.
Alberta NDP health critic David Shepherd says Calgary is where the NDP needs to make ground in the election.
“We have teachers, folks that have been working on the frontlines of the health care system, folks with deep expertise in the health care system, folks with deep expertise in energy, renewable energy and folks that have worked on building the economy,” said Shepherd.
“We are proud of the team that we’ve had, and know that all those folks are out there every day knocking on doors, talking to Calgarians, because that is where this will be decided.”
Henry says there will be a majority mandate because this is a two-party race.
“The two parties are very evenly matched,” said Henry.
“The UCP has recovered quite a bit of ground with Danielle Smith as the UCP leader, most of it at the expense of the Wildrose party.”
Henry adds that four out of 10 voters don’t like any of the alternatives and are not enthusiastic about going to the polls.
The poll found that more women are inclined to vote for the NDP than the UCP, while more men would cast a ballot for the conservatives.
In Calgary, 45 per cent of respondents support the NDP while 47 per cent support the UCP.
In Edmonton, 58 per cent of respondents would cast a ballot for Notley, only 36 per cent for Smith.
But the UCP had much bigger margins in north, central and southern Alberta, at more than 50 per cent support.
The margin of error for the poll is +/- 2.9 percentage points.
1,144 people were surveyed from across the province.
Alberta’s general election is May 29th.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
First court appearance for boy and girl charged in death of Halifax 16-year-old
A girl and a boy, both 14 years old, made their first appearance today in a Halifax courtroom, where they each face a second-degree murder charge in the stabbing death of a 16-year-old high school student.