Alberta Nominations Are Closed!
So how many candidates are running for each of the parties?
Overview
This article is just to give a quick visualization for each of the political parties/entites as to where they are fielding candidates now that the nomination period is ended.
United Conservative Party
Unsurprisingly the United Conservative party has managed to field a candidate in each of Alberta’s 87 provincial ridings. They wouldn’t be a very good incumbent party if they couldn’t manage that, right?
New Democratic Party
And just like their Conservative rivals, the New Democrats have also fielded a candidate in each of the 87 ridings. There are at least a few ridings in the province wherein the only candidates are from the UCP and NDP!
Green Party
The Greens have outdone themselves this election by nominating the most candidates the party has ever put up in its 12-year history. Even more impressive is that they’re ahead of the Alberta party and the Liberals, meaning they’re the third largest party in terms of candidates nominated this election.
Alberta Party
The Alberta Party has had a bit of a fall from grace compared to previous elections. In the last election they fielded 87 candidates and now, well now they’re down to 19 candidates in the province. Behind the Greens but ahead of the Liberals still.
Alberta Liberals
Given the former Liberal leader, David Swann, endorsed Rachel Notley, you can imagine how morale might be for the Liberals this election. Only getting 13 candidates on the docket, they’re behind even the Wildrose Loyalty Coalition who fumbled their last-minute nomination requirements.
Wildrose Loyalty Coalition
The Wildrose Loyalty Coalition kind of ate dirt at the nomination deadline. They made headlines when they announced they had 53 candidates up for nomination, but thanks to the stringent Alberta nomination requirements, they were left with only 16. The pain in the ass they desired to be for Danielle Smith and the UCP may not come to pass.
Solidarity Movement of Alberta
But you know who could be a pain in the ass for Smith and the UCP? The Solidarity Movement of Alberta, a group in a similar vein as the Wildrose Loyalty Coalition but with more of a grudge against Smith. Their candidates are a little more strategically place, mostly in Calgary and some of the competitive non-Calgary/Non-Edmonton ridings in the province. It’ll be interesting to see if they manage to achieve their goal of tripping up the Conservatives on election day.
Independence Party of Alberta
The Independence Party of Alberta is only running candidates in rural Alberta for the most party which, in all honesty, makes sense. Any real independence sentiments in the province tend to be the rural regions.
Advantage Party of Alberta
The Alberta Advantage Party managed a whopping four candidates this election. But you know what, points for at least clustering their candidates in a geographic region. The Central Alberta Advantage Party!
Communist Party of Alberta
Just in case you think the NDP, Greens and Liberals are too right-wing, the Communists have three candidates floating out there.
Wildrose Independence Party
You know what, gotta feel just a little bad for the Wildrose Independence Party. This was a party that polled at a high of 20% between elections and now they’ve only got two candidates. Independence party number two!
Buffalo, Reform and the Pro-Life Association
These are the three parties with a single candidate up for election. The Buffalo Party is contesting in Edmonton-Strathcona against Notley of all places. The Reform Party is out in Innisfail-Sylvan Lake and the Pro-Life Political Association has a candidate up in Calgary-Mountain View.