ThinkHQ/Metro News Poll
If the intent of Greg Clark’s resignation and subsequent Alberta Party leadership race was to capture the imagination of Albertans and drive party growth prior to the next provincial election, the strategy is having limited success in terms of public perception.
A recent ThinkHQ/Metro News poll find that freshly-minted Alberta Party leader Stephen Mandel has reasonably positive personal appeal among voters – 29% approve of Mandel vs. while 25% disapprove. That said, despite three terms as Edmonton’s mayor and a brief stint as a PC cabinet minister, almost one-half (46%) of Albertans don’t know enough about Mandel to offer a rating of him.
- Not surprisingly, Mandel is best-known in Edmonton, but even here positive impressions of the Alberta Party leader are only modestly positive – 43% approve vs. 40% disapprove
- Mandel is well regarded by likely Alberta Party voters (59% approval), but those intending to vote for the NDP disapprove of Mandel 2:1
At this stage, Mandel’s leadership of the Alberta Party doesn’t “move the needle” in terms of voter preferences. Mock-ballot returns with Mandel as Alberta Party leader show little variance from generic ballot results. If the election were held today, Mandel’s Alberta Party would capture 11% of the decided vote province-wide, well back of the UCP (51%) and NDP (33%).
- Even in Edmonton, Mandel’s leadership contributes only a nominal bump in Alberta Party fortunes compared to the generic ballot
Though there hasn’t been a groundswell in public interest in the recent Alberta Party leadership, the selection process may be successful for the party in other ways – membership sales, donations, building constituency association capacity, etc. The coming months will tell if these other measures of success are hitting their mark.
Click the link to view detailed findings and methodology: Metro ThinkHQ Poll Stephen Mandels Alberta Party