I can’t find the results on TV anywhere so I’m following along on Larry Johnsrude’s blog. Of course, Larry has decided to blog cryptic updates rather than numbers which is a bit frustrating.
From his latest update, it sounds like Ted Morton is doing quite well and it’s shaping into a two man race.
Which means the race is down to Ted Morton is the Man versus Sing a Song for Jim.
UPDATE: With 33 of 83 polls in, Dinning leads, but it’s not by a large margin.
Dinning 10,281
Morton 8,364
Stelmach 5,747
Oberg 4,427
Norris 2,612
Hancock 2,269
McPherson 264
Doerksen 526
UPDATE: With 63 of 83 polls reporting:
Dinning 20,837
Morton 18,897
Stelmach 11,523
Oberg 8,636
If Stelmach can get his total a bit higher and get some endorsements, he might have a chance. Either way, there are going to be some interesting votes next Saturday in both the Quebec and Alberta nations.
UPDATE: The Final Results:
Jim Dinning 29470 (30.2%)
Ted Morton 25648 (26.2%)
Ed Stelmach 14967 (15.31%)
Lyle Oberg 11638 (11.9%)
Dave Hancock 7595 (7.8%)
Mark Norris 6789 (6.9%)
Victor Doerksen 873 (0.9%)
Gary McPherson 744 (0.8%)
Interesting…
The Morning After UPDATE: It’s a three man race which anyone could win. Which means next Saturday is going to be one hell of a day for political junkies. Seriously, if you like politics, savour it, because it’s hard to imagine the stars ever being aligned like this again.
As for the race to replace Ralph, it’s a tough one. It’s a preferential ballot so, one imagines, if Stelmach can claw his way up to second place, he’ll win. But he’ll need to double his vote to do that which means, along with Hancock who has endorsed him, he’ll need to get Norris and Oberg onside.
Morton did a lot better than anyone imagined and might actually win this thing which would be something Canadians living outside the Alberta nation would have to take notice of. Getting over 50% will still be difficult for him, but I wouldn’t count it out, especially if he gets Oberg’s support.
As for Dinning, I’d still put my money on him but, man, has he ever got to be worried. He’s been working at this for a decade but didn’t even come close to the Paul Martin dominance people expected. It’s possible a lot of his supporters just stayed home because they thought he was a lock to make it to the second ballot and this should be a wake up call for them. Luckily Morton is his main challenger so he can paint this as a Morton-Dinning battle.