A Conservative Winnipeg stronghold could be a dark horse to watch on election night. Tory MP Joy Smith has held Kildonan-St. Paul for more than a decade. But with her retirement, high-profile Tory opponents in the riding hope this could pave the way for them.
The Liberals have MaryAnn Mihychuk, a former cabinet minister in the Gary Doer government and Winnipeg mayoral candidate.
"I think it opens it wide up. I've been knocking on doors, over 15,000 doors. People in Kildonan-St. Paul are looking for change," said Mihychuk
Nurse and former Winnipeg council candidate Suzanne Hrynyk is running for the NDP. Hrynyk says she jumped into the race here, in part, because there is no incumbent.
"I saw that there was an opportunity. I think people in the riding have been looking for change for a number of years," said Hrynyk.
But the Conservative candidate trying to replace Joy Smith has a profile of his own. Jim Bell is the former vice president of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
"Granted, I'm the new candidate for the Conservative Party, but I think I bring a lot to the table from my background and it has served me well thus far," said Bell.
Curtis Brown of Probe Research said the lack of an incumbent does make this contest more competitive. But he said the riding stretches into East and West St. Paul, where people tend to vote Tory. The Conservatives won the seat by about 10,000 votes in 2011.
"I think it would take a lot for the Conservatives to lose this seat," said Brown.
There are other candidates vying for the seat too. The Greens are represented by marijuana advocate Steven Stairs. David Reimer is running for the Christian Heritage Party and Eduard Hiebert, a farmer, is running as an independent.
