The Alberta NDP raised more cash than the United Conservative Party in the third quarter of 2021, according to financial documents released today by Elections Alberta.
According to the returns, the NDP raised $1,367,080 and the UCP raised $1,235,482 between July 1 and Sept. 30, 2021.
While these results are better for the UCP than the previous quarters, this marks the fourth quarter in a row that Rachel Notley’s NDP have out-fundraised Jason Kenney‘s UCP. The NDP raised twice as much money as the UCP in the final quarter of 2020 and the first and second quarters of 2021.
The NDP have raised a stunning $4,060,290 since Jan. 1, 2021, dominating the governing UCP, which is trailing with $2,596,202 raised since the beginning of the year. It is pretty clear that the weak overall fundraising returns from the UCP have a result of Kenney’s plummeting personal approval ratings and the party’s dropping support in the polls.
The UCP’s bump in donations over the summer are likely a result of the party’s fundraising efforts in between the day when Kenney declared “Alberta open for the summer and open for good” and the start of the deadly fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the disclosures, $183,700 of the UCP’s total cash raised in the third quarter was from Agriculture and Forestry Minister Devin Dreeshen‘s Innisfail-Sylvan Lake constituency association, likely generated at the annual horse derby fundraising event (Dreeshen has found himself at the centre of a sexual harassment and intoxication scandal). And $110,947 of the UCP’s total fundraising for the past quarter was raised by MLA Dan Williams constituency association in Peace River, likely at an August “town hall” fundraiser that featured Kenney and a number of cabinet ministers.
The Pro-Life Political Association, birthed from a hostile takeover of the moribund Social Credit Party in 2016, raised a surprising $92,560 in the third quarter. The party, which ran only one candidate in the 2019 election, is using the party as a vehicle for anti-abortion political activism that can legally issue tax-receipts for donations. It is unclear whether the party will move more aggressively into electoral politics in the 2023 election.
Here is what all of Alberta’s registered political parties raised in the third quarter of 2021:
- Alberta NDP: $1,367,080.50
- United Conservative Party: $1,235,482.45
- Pro-Life Political Association: $92,560.92
- Wildrose Independence: $53,839.92
- Alberta Party: $31,617.41
- Alberta Liberal Party: $13,930.54
- Independence Party of Alberta: $1,740.00
- Green Party: $1,314.00
- Alberta Advantage Party: $300.00
The Communist Party and Reform Party did not report any funds raised in this quarter.
NDP nominate Hoffman and Boporai
The NDP have nominated two more candidates ahead of the expected 2023 provincial election. Sarah Hoffman was nominated in Edmonton-Glenora on Oct. 27 and Parmeet Singh Boparai in Calgary-Falconridge on Oct. 29.
Hoffman is the NDP deputy leader and was first elected as an MLA in 2015 after serving two terms on the Edmonton Public School Board.
Boparai finished a close second to UCP candidate Devinder Toor – losing by 96 votes in 2019 in the closest race of the provincial election.
The NDP have scheduled nomination meetings in Calgary-Currie on Nov. 13, and Calgary-Buffalo on Nov. 15 and Lethbridge-East on Nov. 21.
4 replies on “NDP leads in fundraising, again, but UCP bounces back after weak returns in early 2021”
I wonder what the fundraising numbers looked like when Alison Redford/Ralph Klein were shown the door?
The UCP are in a disaster mode, and support is going down.
The UCP seems to have pulled out all the stops to have its greatest fundraising summer ever, but it still fell short of regaining the lead.
It is widely believed that the open for good/greatest summer ever idea was in part to shore up Kenney and the UCP’s lagging popularity. Perhaps another reason was to try shore up their very weak fundraising earlier in the year. I suspect the relaxation of all restrictions allowed them, at least for a brief while to hold a lot barbecues and other in person events before COVID re surged.
[…] ever” that, while spawning a fourth wave, helped the party save face by raising almost, but not quite, as much as the opposition NDP since the pandemic […]