The unofficial results of the May 5 provincial election state in no uncertain terms Albertans want change and once the smoke has cleared and all the numbers finalized, the province will have a new majority government with the NDPs taking the reins and the Wildrose as the official opposition.
Jason Nixon is clearly the candidate of choice in the Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre riding, and the unofficial results show the Wildrose candidate leading by a sizable margin.
With the majority of the polls in Tuesday evening, Nixon has 4,735 votes, well ahead of Progressive Conservative candidate Tammy Cote, who trailed with 3,425.
In a telephone interview, Tuesday, Nixon chatted briefly about his win.
“I feel pretty good, excited,” he said.
“A few short months ago people were saying the (Wildrose) party was dead.”
He said he is humbled by the support shown him at the polls.
“I am ready to get to work right away.”
The Wildrose representative said all candidates in the riding worked hard and deserved recognition for all the time, effort and commitment they put into their campaigns.
Progressive Conservative candidate Tammy Cote held her head high and re- mained gracious and poised at her camp in Rocky Moun- tain House.
“The sun will come up tomorrow,” she told her loyal supporters, who applauded her, as she struggled to maintain her composure. “We had a plan right from the get-go and I’m not too sure there was much more we could have done.”
Cote said she is worried about the province in the hands of the NDP.
“I don’t think this can be good for us at all. There has already been significant layoffs and this will not help that situation at all.”
Former PC MLA Ty Lund, who was at Cote’s headquarters Tuesday evening blamed former premier, Jim Prentice for the fall of the Tories.
“Tammy was a good candidate who worked really hard. But Prentice didn’t have to have an election. It was a bunch of nonsense. And he did a stupid thing with the budget, raising taxes. People are not happy with Prentice.”
Brenda Nicolay, who helped Cote with her campaign said she was disappointed with the results.
“I am surprised and disappointed. She (Cote) is one class act and a role model for my daughter and other women in politics.”
NDP candidate for the Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre riding, Hannah Schlamp who received 1,935 votes from the 65 polls and Joe Anglin who ran as an Independent and received 1,238 votes could not be reached for comment.