Bouquets of Gray: Strategic voting in Nipissing—Timiskaming: vote Liberal

The riding of Nipissing—Timiskaming was one of the closest in the country in 2011. The Conservative Jay Aspin defeated the Liberal Anthony Rota by a mere 18 votes.  The NDP received 8,781 and the Greens 2,518.

Strategic voting in Nipissing—Timiskaming

Clearly this is a riding where strategic voting is desired.  Nor is it difficult to see that strategic voters should line up behind the Liberal.

If there were any doubt about that, a local opinion poll conducted by CTV should remove it:

Strategic voting in Nipissing—Timiskaming

Some recent posts:

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Bouquets of Gray: Strategic voting in Perth-Wellington: vote Liberal

If polls are to be believed, the Liberals are dominating in Ontario. Grenier’s poll tracker projects the Liberal support in Ontario at 43% and the Conservatives down to 31%:

Polls and Strategic voting Perth-Wellington
Ontario Polls from Poll Tracker
This shift against Harper is showing up on the ground in ridings that one would normally assume are fairly safe, such as Perth-Wellington, where a local poll conducted by Mainstreet Research for Postmedia, which found a neck-and-neck race between the Conservatives and Liberals:
Polling in Perth-Wellington
If this poll is correct, strategic voters in Perth-Wellington should vote for the Liberals.

The riding includes such towns as Stratford, St. Marys, Elora, Fergus, and Minto.

Some recent posts:

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Bouquets of Gray: Calgary Confederation, Skyview, and Centre: strategic voters should support the Liberals

Update, Oct. 17.   A new poll in Calgary Centre has the Liberals and Conservatives neck-and-neck.  Strategic voters could make the difference.

Strategic voting in Calgary Confederation, Skyview, and Centre
Calgary Conferation,
Calgary Skyview,
Calgary Centre

This election has a few more surprises than most, and the fracturing of the Conservatives’ fortress in Calgary might be one of them.

news story from the CBC reports that three Calgary ridings are surprisingly competitive: Calgary Centre, Calgary Confederation, and Calgary Skyview.

This is also the interpretation of Eric Grenier over at threehundredeight.com.  His current projections for the Calgary ridings paint three ridings red: Calgary Centre, Calgary Confederation, and Calgary Skyview

Strategic voting in Calgary Confederation, Skyview, and Centre
Calgary projections from threehundredeight.com

The striking thing is not merely that Grenier’s a projecting these three seat for the Liberals.  It is also seeing weakness in other ridings such as Signal Hill and Forest Lawn.

For Calgary voters who want to vote strategically to defeat Harper, however, the message is clear.  Vote Liberal.
Some recent posts:

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Bouquets of Gray: Calgary Confederation, Skyview, and Centre: strategic voters should support the Liberals

Calgary Conferation,Calgary Skyview,Calgary Centre This election has a few more surprises than most, and the fracturing of the Conservatives’ fortress in Calgary might be one of them. A news story from the CBC reports that three Calgary ridings are surprisingly competitive: Calgary Centre, Calgary Confederation, and Calgary Skyview. This is also the

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Bouquets of Gray: Strategic voting in Edmonton Mill Woods: vote Liberal

Strategic voting in Edmonton Mill Woods
Strategic voting in
Edmonton Mill Woods

Recent local polls are bringing up some more opportunities for strategic voters, one of them is Edmonton Millwoods.

Edmonton Millwoods is a new riding located in south-east Edmonton. It was formed from the previous riding of Edmonton-Millwoods-Beaumont, which was once represented by Liberal David Kilgour.

A new poll conducted by MainStreet Research for the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting suggests that the riding could be in play:

Strategic voting in Edmonton Mill Woods
New Poll in Edmonton Mill Woods

Some recent posts:

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Bouquets of Gray: Strategic Voting in Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas: vote Liberal

Update, Oct. 17: the votetogether.ca team has endorsed Tassi, the Liberal candidate in Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas, as the best positioned to defeat the Conservatives.

Strategic Tactical Voting in Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas
Strategic Voting in Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas

Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas (HWAD) is a new riding made up of the urban and suburban parts of what used to be Ancaster-Dundas-Flamorough-Westdale.  Its formation resulted in the rural polls of Flamborough being joined with Glanborough to form a new largely rural riding.

HWAD should now be a three-way race, with Conservative voters from upscale Ancaster and Dundas, NDP voters from Hamilton, and Liberals from both.  And it should be an active riding for all parties, because the McMaster student base should become active in all three parties.

Strategic tactical voting in Hamilton West Ancaster Dundas
Strategic voting in HWAD

If the 2011 are redistributed into the new riding (see here), the result would have been CPC 40%, NDP 28%, Liberal 25%.  But in this election, most polls are showing the Liberals have strengthened in Ontario at the expense of both other parties.

Threehundredeight.com projects a Liberal victory here, with the lower bounds of their expected tally above the upper limit of the Conservative.

Now there is a new local poll that confirms that result. Mainstreet Research conducted a poll of the riding for Friends of Canadian Broadcasting.  It found the Liberals in the lead:

Strategic voting Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas
Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas
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Bouquets of Gray: Strategic Voting in Central Nova: vote Liberal

Strategic voting in Central Nova
Strategic voting in Central Nova

The riding of Central Nova in Nova Scotia is a riding where strategic voting could make a difference.  Its long-time MP, Peter MacKay, is not standing for re-election.

MacKay had won with over 50% of the vote, and his decision to retire from politics hurts the Conservatives in Nova Scotia.

How much it has hurt can be seen in the new figures, where Eric Grenier sees 40% as the high estimate for Conservative support.
Some local polling also suggest the Cons are vulnerable here:
Polls in Central Nova
Given that the polls were taken only a few days apart, but have quite different results, the results should probably be interpreted as a sign of Conservative vulnerability rather than a basis for confidence.  
Nevertheless, there is every possibility that Central Nova is a riding that is ripe for the picking if a handful of NDP and Green voters support the Liberals.

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