The Next Chapter in the Alberta Tory Leadership Race

The Alberta PC's are in the process of choosing a new leader who will automatically become premier as of Oct 1.  The first ballot was last Saturday,September 17.  Gary Mar came out on top with 41% with Doug Horner and Allison Redford coming in second and third.  Ted Morton,Rick Orman and Doug Grffiths did not do well and had to drop out.

Second ballot will be held on Oct 1 when one of the candidates will be declared the winner.  The three losers have put their support behind front runner Gary Mar but at least two of  campaign managers so far are not happy.  They are not following their leaders to support Mar.
 Former Alberta PC party leadership candidates Ted Morton and Rick Orman have endorsed Gary Mar in an increasingly heated contest, but their closest advisers are far from happy.

The campaign managers for both defeated leadership hopefuls said Tuesday there's no way they're going to support the Tory front-runner in his bid to be premier, regardless of what their former candidates say.

"All I've got is a very, very bad taste in my mouth about everything," said Sam Armstrong, Morton's campaign manager and longtime adviser.

In a stinging criticism of Alberta's former envoy in Washington, D.C., Armstrong said Mar becoming premier will not bring "renewal" to the Alberta Tory party.

 Even some of those MLA's who supported the loser candidates are NOT moving over to the Mar camp.

Despite these endorsements, some of the MLAs who supported the defeated candidates are not moving to Mar.

Will they all come together after the new leader/premier is chosen? Who knows?  But there's still too many "good ole boys" in the backrooms calling the shots.  That's one of the big problems with the PC party.,is the establishment and it's become stale.  So no matter who becomes the next leader/premier whether it's Gary Mar,Allison Redford, or Doug Horner, it will be status quo.  NOTHING will change I can assure you that!

Alberta needs a fresh new start with a new grassroots Wildrose party next election without the "good ole boys" the back rooms and it starts now!

Update: Seems like some Morton supporters are buying Wildrose memberships.
 

It appears Ted Morton's loss is the Wildrose Alliance Party's gain.
Morton is among the failed Tory leadership candidates now throwing his support behind Gary Mar, but it is a move that is angering some of Morton's backers.
Shayne Saskiw, with the Wildrose Party, tells QR77 news that Mar's advantage in the leadership race is sending more conservatives their way.
He says membership sales are triple the normal pace since Saturday's Tory leadership ballot with 300 sales since then.