Doug Horner’s campaign for the premiership of Alberta picked up steam last week after the first ballot placed him in the top three and eliminated Rick Orman, Ted Morton and Doug Griffiths from the contest.
Campaign organizers report high numbers of memberships sold.
“They’re going out our door so fast that we can’t keep them on the shelf,” said campaign team member Tim Schultz. Since the first ballot, many people have joined the campaign, with one area taking 800 memberships to sell in one day. Many Horner supporters have told Schultz they did not vote on the first ballot but promise to throw their support behind Horner on Oct. 1.
Horner supporters also opened two offices in Edmonton last week. Schultz said Horner’s momentum is coming from all over the province, with central Alberta coming on board strongly.
“Now people are recognizing they have the opportunity to make a difference and they want to get involved. We’re hearing that quite a bit,” said Schultz.
Horner said he was “humbled” by the support he received in the Lac La Biche – St. Paul constituency and wanted to thank everyone who voted for him. Horner earned 80 per cent of the vote with the highest voter turnout of any rural constituency.
“I would love to see that happen again and maybe even more,” he said. “It is about change and it’s about representation, and it’s about making sure that you’re heard.”
He credited his strong background in agriculture for his support in the north. He won the most votes in a swath of constituencies across the north of the province.
“The message resonates with the folks there. When I was there for the parade (in St. Paul) for example, we had a ton of discussions with people about the ideas and the platforms and the policy I would like to bring to our party and to the government.”
The lowest support for Horner was in the south and Calgary. Horner noted most of the candidates on the first ballot are from the south.
“We’ve been very pleased with the response to us staying in the race even though some wanted us to bow out,” he said. The schedule includes stops in Calgary this week.
“Time is now of the essence, so we’re working hard to get as much of our vote out as we can.”
