[LINK] "PCs soar to another majority win in Alberta election surprise"

[rfmcdonald]

This was wildly unexpected news. Good news, I think, but still surprising inasmuch as all the polls proved to be wrong.

Alberta's Progressive Conservatives have won yet another resounding majority, brushing aside the upstart Wildrose Party with a near-sweep of the province's major cities.

The victory means Alberta voters _ one-fifth of whom were undecided in the final days _ opted for Alison Redford's progressive, big-government vision for the province at a time when it's an economic leader of Canada.

“It's a much better number I think than we could have cautiously hoped for, and we're very grateful for Albertans' support,” PC party president Bill Smith said at the party's election night headquarters in downtown Calgary.

[. . .]

He believes undecided voters made the difference. “I have to wonder if they walked in the polling station and went: 'You know, my life is good, and the PCs have played a big part in that in government over the years’.”

Wildrose presented a starkly different direction for the province, pitching small-c conservatism and saying it would roll back spending growth.

The results mark a dramatic turnaround in the campaign's final week, which Wildrose entered with a wide lead.

It then endured a series of controversies _ including an anti-gay blog by a candidate and comments by another saying he had an advantage because he's white _ that had Leader Danielle Smith on the defensive.

The PCs won a resounding majority, on pace for roughly 60 of the province's 87 seats. The party nearly swept Calgary, won a majority of seats in Edmonton and split the rural ridings with Wildrose, with about one-third of polls reporting.

It marked a rebirth of the party under Ms. Redford, who won the leadership last fall.

[. . .]
Wildrose Campaign Chair Cliff Fryers said the measure of success is if “we fight the good fight and did we run the best campaign,” he said. “And I'd say the answer to that is: 'Yes, we did’.”

The campaign began to turn, however, with a series of Wildrose gaffes in the past week, including the candidates' comments and Ms. Smith's statement that the “science isn't settled” on climate change.

Mr. Fryers said the comments of Mr. Hunsperger and Mr. Leech did hurt the Wildrose team.

“It would be misleading everybody to say they did not have an impact. The question is the degree,” he said, saying the party relied on Ms. Smith (who declined to condemn the views, saying they were personal but didn't reflect party policy) to respond.

“She's a libertarian to the core, she believes in the absolute equality of all persons in every way... but yes, initially, I can't deny some people might have picked up on that, but I think they're well through it. But I think most people have taken a look at Danielle Smith and said: 'No, she's not that way’.”