NDP strong in the city, poll says

The orange crush has arrived in Edmonton, where a new poll suggests one in five decided voters would cast ballots for the New Democratic Party.

A Leger poll conducted for the Edmonton Journal and the Calgary Herald earlier this week shows 20 per cent of decided voters in the capital city would cast ballots for NDP Leader Brian Mason’s party.

“There is a mood for change, and we can all feel it,” Mason said Thursday.

“The missteps of the Conservative government and their campaign have certainly fuelled that,” he said. “But people are also starting to look at the Wildrose more critically, and they’re asking themselves what kind of change that party will bring.”

The poll, released Wednesday, puts the NDP in a statistical tie with the Wildrose, which has captured 25 per cent of the decided voters.

The Tories, meanwhile, would capture 37 per cent of the vote in Edmonton, while the Liberals have 12 per cent of the vote and the Alberta Party has four per cent.

Across the province, support for the NDP is at 8.5 per cent.

Mount Royal University professor Keith Brownsey said the surge in NDP support is a result of strong performances by high-profile Edmonton MLAS.

“You have two Edmonton based MLAS who have done a very credible job in the legislature,” Brownsey said, referring to Mason and Edmonton-strathcona MLA Rachel Notley.

“People are looking for an alternative to the Conservatives, people want change,” he said. “They see the Liberals disintegrating and … when they start sniffing around the Wildrose, they start really looking at the policies, they realize the party’s not a conservative party but a reactionary party.”