Nenshi eyed as Alberta NDP leadership race front-runner [Video]

As a key deadline looms Monday in the leadership contest for Alberta’s New Democrats, numbers and opinion suggest it remains Naheed Nenshi’s race to lose.

Members have until Monday night — with a midnight deadline — to buy a membership in order to cast a vote on June 22 on who will replace Rachel Notley as NDP leader and head of the Opposition.

Nenshi, a former Calgary mayor, has been drawing hundreds to party events and has already seen leadership rival Rakhi Pancholi read the numbers and quit the race to join his team.

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He’s the outsider challenging party mainstays Sarah Hoffman and Kathleen Ganley.

Nenshi, a three-term mayor, does not have a track record with the NDP. He has promised his brand of purple politics – a mix of conservative blue and liberal red …