Clear leader emerges in PC leadership poll
Posted Sep 13, 2011 8:04 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A new poll shows one candidate holding a more than 10 point lead in the race to replace Premier Ed Stelmach as Alberta’s top Tory.
With just four days to the first ballot, Gary Mar is far out front.
However, he does not appear to have enough party support to win on Saturday, which would mean a second ballot on October 1st.
Eight-hundred PC members were polled last week, and while the results have Mar with the most provincial support, Alison Redford was the top candidate in Calgary.
Environics Research Pollster Tony Coulson says the poll conducted for The Calgary Herald showed a clear front-runner, but also had some intriguing results.
“The poll shows Gary Mar leading with 31 per cent of the votes followed by Alison Redford in second with 20 and then probably the most interesting part is that there’s a tie in terms of who might go forward onto the second ballot in third place,” said Coulson.
“Doug Horner and Ted Morton basically tied at 12 and 10 per cent respectively.”
The top three candidates would advance to the second ballot if no clear winner emerges.
The poll also asked members for their second choice and Mar held 20 per cent, Horner and Redford tied for second while Morton claimed the third spot.
