Rachel Notley and the NDP woke to some great news on February 1st.
The 2021 fundraising numbers were released and the former governing party out performed all other parties.
The Alberta NDP raised over $6.1-Million dollars in the 2021, giving them one of the best years in fundraising. In 2020, the party raised just over $5-Million, and in 2019 the party raised $5.5-Million.
This gives Notley and the NDP a much need boost heading into the an election year.
The governing UCP under Premier Jason Kenney's Leadership saw another bad year in fundraising. Seeing another year where the party was out performed by the opposition. In 2021, the UCP raised $2.7-million in donations. This is down from the previous year, where in 2020 the UCP raised just over $3.7-million.
The last time the UCP out raised the NDP was in 2019, when the party raised $6.3-million.
The other parties saw an rebound in their fundraising totals as well.
The leaderless Alberta Liberals say a small increase in fundraising. In 2021 the party was able to collect close to $114-thousand in donations. This is up $14,000 from the previous year.
The Alberta Party, who elected their new leader Barry Morishita (former Mayor of Brooks, AB) almost doubled their previous years fundraising total. The party collected just over $222-thousand in donations, compared to $120-thousand in donations in 2020.
The Greens saw a dip in support in donations. In 2021 the party raised $13,032 in donations, this is down from the previous year ($19,550 in 2020) and down half in 2019 ($25,178 in 2019).
The Wildrose Independence Party under Paul Hinman (who is currently running in the Fort McMurray Lac La Biche byelection) raised $114,829. This was an increase over the previous year, $74,191.
With an election needing to be for May 2023, some parties will be entering into the last year of the legislature with wind at their backs, while others will have a tough mountain to climb.