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Maggi said he was surprised to see such a dramatic change, but had confidence in the telephone survey, which was conducted Sunday by an automated system called interactive voice response (IVR).

“We’re going to go into an election in the next couple of weeks with a real race heating up,” he said. “This campaign is really going to matter, but I wouldn’t have said that a month ago. I would have said this is a slam dunk campaign for Jim Prentice.”

The pollster attributed the drop in Tory support — and rise in Wildrose support — to the survey finding that 49 per cent of Albertans didn’t approve of the budget tabled in the legislature Thursday.

Wildrose may have also benefited from the fact former leader Danielle Smith lost her bid to run for the PCs Saturday, while the Wildrose was electing former Conservative MP Brian Jean to replace her, he said.

The survey also shows support for Rachel Notley’s NDP in Edmonton has reached 35 per cent, suggesting the NDP could sweep the capital.

“As it stands right now the NDP is poised to make huge gains in Edmonton,” Maggi said.

Some centrist and left-of-centre voters may feel the PCs have gone too far to the right under Prentice, and may park their vote with Notley’s party, Maggi said.

He noted the survey has the PCs running third in Edmonton with just 14 per cent of support, one percentage point behind the Wildrose and one ahead of the Liberals.

In Calgary, the PCs lead with 25 per cent, followed by the Wildrose at 21 per cent, the Liberals at 16 per cent, the NDP at 11 per cent and the Alberta Party at four per cent.