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If he wants to be premier in 18 months, NDP Leader Ryan Meili knows his party “absolutely” has to win Regina Coronation Park.

The diverse, inner-suburban riding was the closest race in the city in the 2016 election, with the NDP losing by just with 147 votes.

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So Meili was heartened to see a crowd fill up the auditorium at Thom Collegiate on Tuesday. He spoke to 450 people, including 307 delegates, who turned up for a boisterous nomination meeting that evening.

“This is probably the biggest one I’ve seen,” said Meili.

He believes a series of “hot contested nominations” bode well for NDP chances. He’s seeing signs for optimism in newcomer communities, and even in some rural areas where the party was trounced last election.

But Patrick Bundrock, executive director of the Saskatchewan Party, said he’s heard it all before. The NDP expressed that same confidence in 2011 and in 2016, he recalls.

“We know how those elections played out,” said Bundrock.