Before Saturday night, all signs pointed to Gary Mar being the next Premier of Alberta.
But, as was the case when Ed Stelmach came to power in 2006, Mar was unable to capitalize on a hefty lead and a majority of caucus support coming into the second ballot.
Alberta’s new Premier-designate, Alison Redford, squeaked by, topping the front runner by just over 1,600 votes, taking 51 per cent of the total.
The race was about as close as it could have been. Beginning at 8 p.m., party officials began releasing second ballot results from the 85 ridings across the province.
Mar took and maintained an early lead, as was expected after his showing on the September 17 first ballot where he garnered over 40 per cent of the vote, compared to second place Redford’s 19 per cent and third place Doug Horner’s 15 per cent.
Redford kept pace throughout the night though, while Horner was unable to keep up, even with solid support from outside of Calgary and Edmonton.
By the end of the count, Mar was the leader with over 42 per cent of the vote with Redford hot on his heels with 37 per cent.
Since the front runner was unable to garner the 50 per cent plus one needed to win the race, it came down to the second place choices for the nearly 16,000 PC members who voted for Doug Horner.
Nearly 80 per cent of those second choices went to Redford, giving her the boost needed to become the province’s first female premier.
She took more than half of Calgary’s 23 ridings and, surprisingly, six of 18 in Edmonton. In the first ballot she was shutout in Alberta’s capital. Overall, she doubled her votes from the first ballot, tripling and quadrupling turnout in some ridings.
After her victory, Redford addressed the crowd at Northlands Expo Centre in Edmonton.
”With this leadership process we have renewed our party,” she said. “We have voted for change.”
The 46-year old, who served as justice minister under Ed Stelmach, told reporters she plans to call an election within 12 months to get a mandate from Albertans.
Party unity came into question after the tight race. A majority of PCers backed Mar on the first ballot. The bottom three candidates; Ted Morton, Doug Griffiths and Rick Orman, also threw their support behind Mar.
Seen as a left-leaning conservative, Redford’s victory may spell potential trouble in the future with the threat from Danielle Smith’s further-right Wildrose.
To quell some of those concerns, both Mar and Horner backed their new leader after she was declared victorious.
PC voter turnout may also be a sign of things to come. Just over 78,000 votes were cast for the second ballot, an 18,000 increase from the first ballot, but still paltry compared to the 2006 leadership race that brought in more than 144,000 votes.
Premier Ed Stelmach, who took power that year, praised Redford’s historic achievement of being Alberta’s first female premier-designate and PC party leader.
“This is a proud moment for our province and our party. I have no doubt that Alison will serve as an inspiration and role model to a new generation of women seeking political office,” he said in a press release.
Locally-speaking, Athabasca-Redwater MLA Jeff Johnson’s supported candidate, Doug Horner, did not take top prize, although he did have overwhelming support in this riding, as well as in Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock and Lac La Biche-St. Paul, where he tripled the second place candidate’s numbers.
Johnson said that of the 897 votes that went to Horner in Athabasca-Redwater, all but 83 picked Redford second, representing ten per cent of the more than 8,000 she received after Horner bowed out.
He added that nearby Lac La Biche-St. Paul had similar trends, meaning the two ridings were instrumental in giving the new premier the edge.
Overall, he said he was looking forward to working with Redford and her commitment to change that seemed to resonate with party members.
Of his role in government he said there would be changes, regardless of who won, and that he has a positive working relationship with the new premier whom he considers a friend.
Even through Redford hails from urban Calgary, she has roots in Redwater, a good sign that she knows rural and agricultural issues, he said.
“She is very committed to be everywhere in the province and listening to people,” he said.
The local candidate added that he considered his backing of Horner successful as it stayed positive and brought in new party members.
