This Week in Alberta - The Saga of Calgary Glenmore

Corey Hogan is in. George Dadamo is out, presumably to run municipally in Calgary.

Other candidates can still declare for the Liberal nomination by June 8th, but you have to figure that Hogan (the campaign manager of Dave Taylor’s ALP bid) would have the edge over any other challengers.

So how would Mr. Hogan fare? Well, at first blush, the riding looks like a lock for the Tories – the PCs handily won 51% to 33% in 2008, and 50% to 35% in 2004. Still, the 2004 results in Glenmore mirror those in neighbouring Calgary Elbow, and the 2007 by election there (after Klein’s retirement) saw Liberal Craig Cheffins win the riding by a comfortable 7% margin.

Now, the Elbow by election was obviously a different ball game since:

a) Ron Stevens, while popular, is no Ralph Klein.
b) The visceral hatred of Stelmach that flowed through Calgary in early 2007 seems to have dried up.
c) PC candidate Brian Henninger ran a fairly under whelming campaign.

But with what will certainly be abysmally low voter turnout, the Alberta economy cooling down, and a rumoured Danielle Smith Wild Rose candidacy to split the vote, this one might just make for an interesting race.


UPDATE: Former Liberal candidate and all around nice person Avalon Roberts will also try for the nomination.

This Week in Alberta - Just Visiting Calgary Glenmore?

In the wake of Deputy Premier Ron Stevens' resignation, speculation around the upcoming Calgary Glenmore by election is in full gear. Former Ontario NDP MLA George Dadamo has already tossed his hat into the ring is considering a run for the Liberal nomination, while Alderman Diane Colley-Urquhart has expressed interest in the Tory nomination. Should she get it, that would also strike her name off the list of possible Calgary mayoral candidates in what is expected to be a wide-open election next year.

Oh, and on that note, I heard from senior anonymous Liberal strategist insider that Calgary Liberal MLA Dave Taylor has been approached to toss his hat into the ring next year - after losing the ALP leadership to Swann, and given Calgary's bizarre habit of election Liberal mayors, there might be some truth behind this one.


In Other News...

-Daveberta looks at the Edmonton 2010 mayoral race.

-With Danielle Smith considering a run for the Wildrose Alliance leadership, you have to imagine she might also consider running in the Glenmore by election. For what it's worth, I think it would be great for the Alliance to get a credible leader like Smith, who could put some pressure on Stelmach from the right.

-Ray Martin will be running for the NDP yet again in Edmonton East.

-Check out this great quote from Culture Minister Lindsay Blackett:

"How can people say I'm anti-gay?" Blackett asks. "I can't deal with the arts community every day by being anti-gay. They'd pick that up in a minute."

UPDATE: From team Dadamo:

Over the course of the last few weeks, Mr. Dadamo has been engaging Calgarians in conversation about the issues that matter most to them – listening and learning about the challenges we face as a community and the oppurtunities that are before us.

He will continue that conversation for the next couple of weeks, before making a formal decision as to whether or not to seek the Alberta Liberal nomination in Calgary Glenmore. In the meantime he is thankful for the literally hundreds of emails, words of support and prayers he has received in the last four weeks.