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The orange wave that crushed PC support across Alberta dragged Johnson down with it. She and Kazim were evenly split at 33.17 per cent, or a 14 per cent drop in support.

The riding is not traditional progressive territory: in a 2009 byelection voters sent a Wildrose MLA to Edmonton before Johnson turned it back to blue in 2012.

Now, it just might go orange.

“People definitely have been hoping for a change. They believed in our leader. They believed in our values,” said Kazim. “They knew that this new change will definitely bring positivity to the province and it will bring more successes and prosperity to the province.”

Kazim, 28, is an engineer who hails from Toronto, where she completed her education. She focused on health care, education and job creation — three NDP talking points — during the race.

Johnson highlighted a local ring road issue as a top priority, in addition to those standard provincial issues. She said her approach wouldn’t change on the opposition benches.

“My primary role all the time was to be a the MLA for Calgary-Glenmore,” she said. “I spoke up a lot. That’s who I am.”

“I don’t how how that’s going to change.”

But even her daughter Cheryl Johnson was hedging her bets against a PC win, supporting both her mom and an Alberta Party candidate.