The Alberta United Conservative Party is ahead of the NDP province-wide, but Calgary is close, according to a poll conducted by Abacus Data. .A total of 40% of eligible voters would select the Alberta UCP, up three points, according to the Monday poll. The poll said 37% would vote for the Alberta NDP, down three points. .Subsequent to the Alberta NDP would be undecided voters (19%). This was followed by the Alberta Party and other (2%). .This is the largest lead for the UCP since Abacus started tracking voter intentions in December. The NDP vote is down six points over two weeks while the UCP share is up five. .Among likely voters, the poll said the UCP is in first place (51%). It added the NDP is polling at a close second (47%). .The Alberta Party and other would tie for third place (1%). .The poll found the NDP have a wide lead in Edmonton (61% to 27%). It said the UCP are ahead in areas outside of the two largest cities (59% to 28%). .Calgary remains close, with the UCP having the lead (47% to 42%). .Among likely voters, impressions of Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and NDP leader Rachel Notley are about the same. .For Smith, 38% have a positive impression, while 47% have a negative view. For Notley, it is 39% positive and 46% negative. .Views of the leaders remain polarized and predictive of vote choice. .Four-fifths of UCP voters have a positive view of Smith and nine-tenths have a negative one of Notley. In contrast, four-fifths of NDP voters have a positive view of Notley and 87% have a negative one of Smith. .The poll noted the two leaders have almost the same overall image in Calgary — Smith is -7 and Notley is -2. The difference is marginal because of the sample size in Calgary. .One-third of eligible voters said they watched some or all of the Alberta Leaders’ Debate on Thursday. Another 28% said they heard about the debate, while 37% did not. .Among likely voters who watched or heard about the debate, 39% said Smith did the most to earn their vote and 37% felt Notley did. One-quarter said neither did. .Of those who thought Smith and Notley did not do the most to earn their vote, 45% are voting NDP, 29% UCP, and 21% are undecided. Nine-tenths of those who thought Smith did the best are voting UCP, and nine-tenths favouring Notley are selecting NDP. .Smith and Notley went toe to toe on Thursday in the Alberta Leaders’ Debate, with the pair landing blows but no knockout punch..READ MORE: Smith says Notley won't run on her record, it was an 'absolute disaster’.Opening remarks had a 1-minute time limit, then 10 questions were asked with a limited response of 45 seconds. The order to speak first was a random draw, with Smith winning..“This election comes down to a choice between a UCP government that lowers taxes, balanced the budget, and returned Alberta to its place as the economic powerhouse of Canada, or we could choose to go backward with the same failed NDP policies that hike taxes, drove away jobs and investment, and almost bankrupted our province,” she said. .The poll was conducted online with 1,507 Albertan adults from May 19 to 22. It has a margin of error of +/- 2.6 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
