The three remaining Tory hopefuls for Cariboo-Prince George will have four voting pools to try their luck at becoming the next Conservative candidate in the 2015 federal election.
The Conservative Party of Canada announced Wednesday that members from Quesnel and Williams Lake will vote Dec. 12 while Prince George and Vanderhoof voters can mark their ballot on Dec. 13.
Candidates Nick Fedorkiw, Todd Doherty and Shari Green all saw the multiple locations as a good sign, especially given the high voter interest, the size of the riding, and winter road conditions.
"I think it's absolutely great. We do not want to disenfranchise any of our region," Doherty said.
Each candidate was a given a copy of the voter's list - including names, addresses and phone numbers - so the countdown to voting day should see a lot of calls going out.
"There will likely be many people who are undecided, and so there's an opportunity to share a bit about yourself," said Green of her camp's approach.
Doherty said the list has more than 3,000 names, with other sources saying that the number sits around 3,150.
All have said the number shows voter interest, and Doherty said he thought there would be more.
"We managed to get a great deal of support and now our challenge is that we have to convert that support in memberships to voters on the day of the vote," Doherty said.
T.J. Grewal, who applied to be a candidate, has said as many as 1,500 of those members were signed by him. Grewal was barred from candidacy because he was one week shy of the six-month-member mark - a requirement in the Conservative constitution that has been waived in some cases. He was a member as recently as 2012.
Each candidate has pointed out that it doesn't matter who signed a voter up, each ballot represents an individual choice, but the strong numbers show an engaged riding.
"I knew it would be a competitive nomination and I knew that there was a lot of interest in it," said Fedorkiw, who characterized the race as competitive between the three of them. "I think with my roots in this community, with my experience, and with my vision for how I see this community unfolding over the next period that I think I would make a great representative."
Green said despite their shared conservative values, there is still enough separate the three.
"If they're looking for somebody who is going to be heard around the caucus table, somebody who has some community context in each of the areas of this riding... certainly those are things that I have," Green said.
Meanwhile, Doherty turned to his experience lobbying in Victoria and Ottawa for regional funding.
"I represented our region for a very long time, whether it was on the national stage or international stage in pursuit of trade, tourism and aviation opportunities," said Doherty.
For one candidate, it'll be a first step toward 2015, said Green.
"There is a lot more work ahead of us as a party to ensure that this riding remains strongly in Conservative hands so people do need to choose wisely," she said.
