From its earliest days, northern and central B.C. has skewed to the right side of the political spectrum.
The old Cariboo riding, comprising of almost all of the northeast of the province, started electing conservative MPs with some consistency in 1908.
The region has a right-leaning political culture, said UNBC political science instructor Jason Morris, which lends itself to the election results over the past couple of generations.
"The north has long had an economy, going back to before gold rush days, of natural resource extraction and entrepreneurial activity that lends itself to more to the right side of the ideological spectrum and less government interference to get things out of the ground to make some money off it," said Morris.
"And it's been harder for more left-leaning parties to find where they fit into that."
The last time Prince George had a left-leaning MP was between 1988 and 1993, when the NDP's Brian Gardiner was elected in Prince George-Bulkley Valley.
The narrative that other parties don't have a chance is a challenge, Morris said.
"That hurts the membership of these parties that would bring challengers - and by that I mean ones that will actually volunteer, not just sign up," he said.
"It hurts fundraising, and money matters in politics."
It also hurts their ability to come up with quality candidates who are able to go toe-to-toe against the Conservative machine for more than the length of an election campaign.
The Cariboo-Prince George Conservative riding association filled their empty spot last December with Todd Doherty.
The local Liberal ridings acclaimed two candidates - Tracy Calogheros and Matt Shaw - this month.
The NDP in Cariboo-Prince George will nominate their candidate next weekend but the Prince George-Peace River-Northern Rockies NDP and Greens have yet to set nomination dates or unveil any potential candidates. But to hear them tell it, the Oct. 19 election isn't a given for local Conservative candidates.
"I don't see that we have any advantage. I think we need to win the voters' confidence in Prince George and throughout the region and the south and in the north," said Prince George-Peace River-Northern Rockies incumbent Bob Zimmer, during a joint campaign office opening on Wednesday with Doherty.
"People always say we have a safe seat, I don't see it that way at all. I think we need to work hard for every vote. We're out front, yes, and we're open, yes, but we've got a lot of work to do."
According to a press release from the Liberal riding association following the Thursday night acclamation of Shaw and Calogheros, the biggest challenge for northern B.C. will be combating the frustration people have with the current government and convincing people that their vote matters and can count.
"The role of our Liberal candidates will be to convince the voting population that Liberals can and will win in these constituencies as long as people exercise their franchise," the press release said. "With 43 per cent of eligible voters not casting a ballet in the last federal election, our Liberal candidates must counter voter disenfranchisement."
For other parties to make inroads, there has to be a focus not only on the big policy planks, but also the "nitty gritty, working in the trenches kind of politics," said Morris, including everything from knocking on doors to having volunteers drive people to polling stations on election day.
"It must be frustrating because we're talking generational change instead of four-to-five year election cycle. So those parties could still be proud of any modest gains they make whether they unseat Conservatives - which might not be the best goal - or to build for elections down the road in terms of the total popular vote in these ridings."
