If I could offer my opinion as a resident of Edmonton-Strathcona…

I think Ryan really hits the nail on the head when he calls Linda Duncan's NDP victory a “perfect storm.” The Liberal vote was absolutely annihilated and many of them went over to the NDP. To boot, I think a lot of Conservative voters stayed home – admittedly there was a strong perception among Edmonton-Strathcona residents (even some who would typically vote blue) that Rahim Jaffer was lazy and overall not the greatest representative.

I think Ryan will win because Iggy is far more popular than Dion was (which isn't saying much, but still). That alone should take some votes away from Duncan and the NDP. His priority should be getting conservative voters to the polls though. He's got the University of Alberta and Old Strathcona neighbourhoods in his riding though and those are admittedly very left leaning so he'll need every Conservative vote out there to counter them. He should also really push the coalition as an issue as well. Linda Duncan had the unenviable job of trying to sell the coalition to Albertans and she did an absolutely terrible job of it. The coalition would have seen Alberta's government representation reduced to one miserable seat and Duncan's rationale was that because the NDP (barely) finished second in the popular vote across Alberta, they were justified in seizing power. Let me tell you, that went over like a lead balloon in Edmonton-Strathcona, even to the moderate voters.

As for Ryan Hastman himself, I've never had the pleasure of meeting him, although when I went to the nomination vote his wife was on hand to say hello and she seemed quite friendly. I wish Ryan all the luck in making Linda's stay in Ottawa a very short one.

I remember being a student at King's University College which is in the riding, and Rahim not even showing up to a well attended candidate debate during the 2006 election. He sent an aide instead. The reason? No, he wasn't sick or in some sort of horrible accident, he just had 'another engagement'. The thing is, the debate organizers had gone to great lengths to make sure there were no other events that night which would normally require a candidate's attendance, all the other candidates were there, and he never even told the organizers he wasn't going to be there in person. Now, I'm sorry, but I would think that during an election campaign of all things, that a candidate would want to attend something like a debate, 'personal engagement' or not. It goes to show how he just expected his reelection as a given, without any work on his part, and should serve as a reminder to candidates across the country that nothing in an election is a given. It ticked a lot of people off, even conservative supporters, and was a good sign of how he treated his constituency.

Rant over however, It's great to see a fresh face, and I'm confident that if Ryan goes out and makes sure the constituents know him and understand he treats them different than Mr. Jaffer, Alberta will soon be 'true blue' once again.

I also live in Edm Strathcona, and the loss of this seat to the NDP last election is a case study in poor strategy. The decision to not campaign at all in the University area because “those guys all vote NDP automatically” was foolish and insulting to the University community. The failure to directly go after Liberal supporters when they nominated a horrible candidate was the deciding factor; the NDP had specific pamphlets for Liberal lawn-signed houses and converted many. Plus it didn't help that the CPC candidate Rahim Jaffer was out of the riding finishing his MBA or something and planning his wedding. Tough sledding for us volunteers on the ground.

Linda Duncan hasn't set the world on fire here so far. Her big chance was to get out in front of the community and use her incumbency to help her get re-elected. Unless she gets real visible before the next election, this seat is quite available to Mr. Hastman.

Hey, good optimistic outlook from three commenters here about Mr. Hastman's chances. I hope they're right! Good luck, Mr. Hastman.

Hey, good optimistic outlook from three commenters here about Mr. Hastman's chances. I hope they're right! Good luck, Mr. Hastman.