Supporting Johnstone in her nomination was Tom Cooper, chair of the Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction, Don Jaffray, executive director of the Social Planning and Research Council, and former Dundas trustee Jessica Brennan.

Johnstone will be facing off against Conservative candidate Vincent Samuel, Liberal candidate Filomena Tassi, and Green Party candidate Peter Ormond in the newly designed riding that includes Dundas, Ancaster, parts of the western section of Hamilton and a slice of the mountain.

With Johnstone’s nomination the NDP has all of their candidates for Hamilton in place. There are only two candidate spots left to be filled by the major parties both on the mountain: the Hamilton Mountain federal Liberals and Conservatives. Nominations for both candidates have yet to be announced.

Also attending the nomination meeting were Hamilton NDP MPPs Paul Miller, Monique Taylor, Hamilton Centre NDP MP David Christopherson, Hamilton Mountain NDP MP candidate Scott Duvall, and Flamborough-Glanbrook NDP MP candidate Mike DiLivio.

While the polls have the NDP ahead for the first time in nearly 30 years, HWAD president Peter Hutton says the public is fickle when it comes to elections. What the polls say in May sometimes doesn’t translate to victory in the fall, he said.

That proved true in 1988 when the Ed Broadbent-led NDP flying high in the polls in 1987, crashed to earth in the 1988 election as the Brian Mulroney’s Progressive Conservatives claimed a second-straight majority. The NDP finished third electing 43 MPs, their highest number at the time.

Johnstone said NDP leader Thomas Mulcair has been the only leader to stand up to Harper, opposing the new security legislation Bill C-51, fighting against Keystone XL, and criticizing the country’s foreign affairs direction.

An NDP-led government, said Johnstone, would build more affordable housing, conduct pension reform, and expand child care.

“There is a new sense of optimism and a fresh vision,” said Johnstone.

An earlier version of this story referred to Stephen Harper as "Premier" rather than Prime Minister. The context of the article attributed the error to Alex Johnstone. She did not make that mistake. We regret the error.