Alberta’s New Democratic Party is quickly filling out its roster with a mix of new and familiar faces for the next provincial election.
All NDP candidates for the seven Central Alberta constituencies are expected to be in place by April 7.
Taking another run at provincial politics are Doug Hart in Lacombe-Ponoka and Patricia Norman in Innisfail-Sylvan Lake. Both unsuccessfully ran in 2012.
In Olds-Didsbury, Glenn Norman was recently acclaimed as the NDP candidate.
Expected to be acclaimed today are Hannah Schlamp for Rocky-Rimbey-Sundre and Emily Shannon for Drumheller-Stettler.
Karen Reay is seeking the Red Deer North nomination while Barb Miller intends to run in Red Deer South. Both slots will be decided on April 7.
While the NDP are nearly finished picking candidates, some of the other provincial parties still have some blank spaces among the seven Central Alberta ridings.
So far, the Liberals have only named Michael Dawe as a candidate in Red Deer North.
The Alberta Party has two candidates in place — Krystal Kromm in Red Deer North and Serge Gingras in Red Deer South.
The Wildrose are nearly finished, with only slots remaining in Red Deer South and Lacombe-Ponoka.
Last weekend, the Progressive Conservatives made Christine Moore their choice in Red Deer North and Jack Hayden in Drumheller-Stettler.
This weekend, the PCs will pick a candidate in Lacombe-Ponoka, filling the party’s final opening in Central Alberta. In the running are incumbent MLA Rod Fox, Peter DeWit, Wayne Rempel and Larry Henkleman.
The provincial election is expected to be called in the coming days.
Confirmed candidates:
Red Deer North
Alberta Party Krystal Kromm
Liberal Michael Dawe
PC Christine Moore
Wildrose Norm Wiebe
Red Deer South
Alberta Party Serge Gingras
PC Darcy Mykytyshyn
Drumheller-Stettler
PC Jack Hayden
Wildrose Rick Strankman
Innisfail-Sylvan Lake
PC Kerry Towle
Wildrose Don MacIntyre
Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills
NDP: Glenn Norman
PC Wade Bearchell
Wildrose Nathan Cooper
Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre
Independent Joe Anglin
PC Tammy Cote
Wildrose Jason Nixon
crhyno@www.reddeeradvocate.com