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It wasn’t even close.

Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley won the debate.

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Wildrose Party Leader Brian Jean won over voters.

And Progressive Conservative leader Jim Prentice won the ire of every female in the room when he turned to Notley and said: “I know that math is difficult.”

Alberta Liberal Leader David Swann was also there.

On Thursday, all four parties with seats in the Alberta legislature squared off in Edmonton. With the long-governing PCs spiralling in the polls, this was Prentice’s chance to stage a comeback.

Instead, all he offered were the standard platitudes he has been hashing out since he launched his budget last month: more talk about getting off the oil and gas roller-coaster, accusing Wildrose’s alternative fiscal plan of not adding up.

But the real fight was between Prentice and Notley, and each was eager to score jabs at the others’ expense.

Prentice criticized the NDP’s plans to raise corporate taxes, start a royalty review, and implement a jobs scheme.