Voters in Conservative-blue Alberta head to polls as Liberals hope to make gains

EDMONTON — Conservatives are aiming to keep Alberta broadly blue while Liberals are hoping for a few key breakthroughs when voters go to the polls Monday in the federal election.

Albertans, by and large, vote Conservative federally, and public opinion surveys during the five-week election campaign suggest that will remain the case.

Nevertheless, the Liberals, under Leader Mark Carney, hope rising support, broadly combined with a corresponding drop in NDP favourability, could translate into vote splitting and some red urban islands in the Tory-blue sea.

The waning days of the campaign saw Canadian voters turn out in record numbers. In four days of advance polling, 7.3 million people marked their ballots early.

That’s up 25 per cent from the 5.8 million people who took part in advance voting in the 2021 federal election.

Among the ridings to watch, Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi, a former federal energy minister, is looking to return to the Liberal fold in Edmonton Southeast. The Conservative candidate is Jagsharan Singh Mahal and Harpeet Grewal is running for the NDP.

In Edmonton Centre, one-time Liberal cabinet minister Randy Boissonnault is not running again. The race is between Conservative Sayid Ahmed, Liberal Eleanor Olszewski and the New Democrats’ Trisha Estabrooks.

The NDP is also looking to shore up support behind Heather McPherson and Blake Desjarlais, the party’s two Alberta members of Parliament. McPherson handily strode to victory in 2021 in Edmonton Strathcona with 60 per cent of the vote. She is running against Liberal Ron Thiering and Conservative Miles Berry.

Desjarlais is running in Edmonton Griesbach in a rematch with Conservative Kerry Diotte. Desjarlais narrowly edged out Diotte in 2021. The Liberal candidate is Patrick Lennox.

In Calgary, George Chahal — the city’s lone Liberal MP — is looking for a second term, this time in the redrawn riding of Calgary McKnight. He is running against Conservative Dalwinder Gill and Arlington Antonio Santiago of the NDP.

In Calgary Centre, incumbent Conservative Greg McLean is seeking to defend his riding for a third straight term. He’s up against Lindsay Luhnau, a first-time candidate for the Liberals, and Beau Shaw of the NDP.

The downtown riding flipped Liberal in 2015, marking the first time Calgary had sent a Liberal to Ottawa since 1968. It returned to the Conservatives in 2019.

Across the Bow River, Liberals and Conservatives have locked horns in Calgary Confederation.

Conservative MP Len Webber retired, and former Alberta provincial cabinet minister Jeremy Nixon is running for the Conservatives. He’s being challenged by Corey Hogan with the Liberals and Keira Gunn of the NDP.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 28, 2025.

The Canadian Press