Alberta General Election - May 5th, 2015

[Vosem]

Meanwhile, in bizarro world, PCs regain the lead in Cardston-Taber-Warner, which went Wildrose by double-digits in 2012. Huh?

That riding went for them in 2008, too (only one)

I suppose it was quite sensible to anti-NDP arguments.

Wildrose are back up there now, though only 44%-36%, which is a pretty typical margin for the area.

Wildrose have also gained, from PC, the lead in the exurban Calgary seat of Chestermere-Rocky View, which totally changes the way the map around Calgary looks.

And, just as soon as I post this, Chestermere switches back to the PCs. Very narrow election there.

[Vosem]

Lesser Slave Lake just switched from being Wildrose by 3 votes to being NDP by 7 votes. I wonder why Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock is so much more strongly Wildrose than all its neighbors.

Prentice wins reelection in his own riding.

Don't worry. It will only prolong his suffering.

He'll probably resign within the year.

[Vosem]

Was Ray Martin a candidate at this election? It'd be a shame if he finally stopped trying to come back the year the NDP made their great breakthrough.

[Vosem]

GPW and Vermillion actually look rather nice; they seem like mirror images of each other. Now, GPS and Lesser Slave Lake should switch (since Barrhead is safely Wildrose); Greenway should switch with Shaw; Calgary-West with Calgary-Bow and the map will look fantastic. I would say to give Chestermere to the PCs but I really don't want them to have the extra seat, either.

[Vosem]

A Chavismo supporter who defeated a PC incumbent by 40 points.

So at least one confirmed HP.

[Vosem]

Out of curiosity, who are some of the more interesting NDP/Wildrose candidates who won? I've heard that in terms of gender and ethnicity, the candidates were pretty diverse this time around, but I don't know much about them (besides Notley).

Some of may be just rumors, but Twitter and NP have given me this list of oddball NDPers:

A Chavismo supporter who defeated a PC incumbent by 40 points.
A CS university student.
A Poli Sci student.
Someone with Duck Dynasty-style facial hair. https://twitter.com/FailedProtostar/status/595780884076371969
An 18 year old
A barista
A yoga instructor
This young woman celebrating 420 on Facebook https://twitter.com/GlenStromquist/status/595969029556215809

The was a NPD candidate who was elected as MP from a riding in deepest Quebec, who said after her election that she had heard that the riding was a lovely place, and that she hoped to visit soon.  IIRC her French-language abilities did not go much past, "bon jour", but she had a French name.

From what I understand, she's actually a prime example that sometimes random people do make fine legislators and she's on track for reelection. Anyway, my beef with the freshman NDPers in Alberta (and the Quebec ones from 2011) isn't lack of experience as much as it is ideological views. I think I've said before that having a small number of 'non-career politicians' in a legislature might do more good than harm.

It's the social media generation. Better get used to politicians that have done silly things on the internet now. It's going to be commonplace in the future.

That's true, and I'm sure you could find some tasteless things in my social media (hell, in this Atlas account). And maybe it was just a harmless youthful phase, but chavismo for me is indefensible.