Supporters were sparse when the NDP opened the doors to its headquarters at the Edmonton Convention Centre Tuesday night.
Around 130 supporters filled the space when the public was allowed in at 8:00 p.m.
Many in the room were anxious for tonight. Game Elliott said he’s been waiting all day for tonight and wasn’t worried about the small crowd size early on.
“I’m not super concerned,” he said. “Lots of people watch election at home and this is my first time coming out to an event to see something like this, so (I’m) not super concerned.”
NDP staffers were making slight adjustments to the displays.
Noticeably absent were balloons attached to the roof at NDP’s headquarters – unlike the UCP who have hundreds of balloons to potentially drop if a Jason Kenney premier designate declaration is made.
Balloons or not, supporters say they plan on showing Notley just how much they’re behind their leader. Especially Lesley Thompson, who arrived to the rally wearing a Notley T-Shirt adorned with NDP pins.
“The polls have just closed there’s a lot of volunteers and everything out polling and voting and things like that. So it’s going to take some time for people to get out of their riding and down here. It’s still a little early.”
Brendan Thompson also wasn’t worried about the turnout this early into the night.
“I volunteered before and I never made it out to the start of any party, so I’m not worried yet not – I think it’ll take until 9:30 for everyone who’s volunteering to get here.”
Candidates are expected to roll into the building around 9:30 p.m.
Updates to come…
