I figured it might not be a barnburner, but this is taking things a little too far the other way.
Given there’s less than five weeks until the provincial election, you’d think that campaigning would be in full swing with candidates out there trying to curry favour with voters by either pumping their own tires or trying to deflate those of their opposition. That's certainly happening at the provincial level, but here in Highwood, you’d be hard-pressed to know that voters are scheduled to go to the polls at the end of May.
Since arriving here last spring, several people have told me that elections in these parts — at least the provincial and federal ones — are one-horse races, although I didn’t think I was supposed to take that characterization quite so literally. Yet here we are with an election just over a month away and, lo and behold, there's only one declared candidate: United Conservative incumbent RJ Sigurdson.
It’s not surprising there hasn’t been a rush of challengers to take on Sigurdson considering the riding has leaned heavily right since it was created more than a half-century ago. In fact, the only times there have been close races in Highwood is when the right-wing vote has been split, but even then, there was still enough electoral support for the right-of-centre parties to run one-two.
When there hasn’t been a split, the right-leaning candidate has always received at least 60 per cent of the vote, sometimes more than 70 per cent, just as Sigurdson did four years ago.
The lack of a race here is similar to other parts of the province where voting patterns run deep but it’s in stark contrast to neighbouring Calgary, which is shaping up to be quite the battleground, one that could well determine which party forms the next government.
There’s part of me that’s a little jealous of those covering races that are expected to go down to the wire, but there’s another part that isn’t envious at all, that’s quite happy to be an interested observer to a proverbial walkover.
You see, when elections are expected to be close, the candidates, as well as their most ardent supporters, are wound so tightly they become monumental pains in the behind. They are hypersensitive to any and all coverage, worried that one unflattering mention will be enough to tip the balance, and I can pretty much guarantee that by the end of the campaign that both sides will be convinced that you’re biased toward the other guy.
When electoral outcomes are less in doubt, the conspiracy theories tend to disappear and skin typically thickens, although that trade-off comes with a race devoid of any drama. At this point, it looks like we might not even get that as Sigurdson stands to be acclaimed if someone else isn’t added to the ballot before the deadline.
The NDP has been searching for a candidate so I imagine that’s not going to happen, but even with another combatant in the race, it’s still shaping up to be a rather low-key affair. I guess I’ll have to watch all the drama of my first Alberta provincial election from afar.
