What fewer Liberal candidates could mean for the upcoming provincial election

Fewer Liberal candidates could benefit NDP A political expert says the Liberals’ inability to run a full slate of candidates could benefit the NDP. Jeff Keele explains.

When Manitobans head to the polls, some constituencies will be without a Manitoba Liberal candidate, and those votes could lean towards the NDP, according to some pollsters and pundits.

The deadline for candidates to be registered has come and gone. The Liberals have 49 candidates running out of the province's 57 constituencies.

One of the eight constituencies without a Liberal candidate is Selkirk.

"Well, I'm surprised. Mainly because we've always had a Liberal candidate," said Darall Sinclair, who lives in the area.

The man at the helm of the party, Dougald Lamont, said he is disappointed there isn't a candidates in all 57 constituencies.

"I always want to make sure everybody has a Manitoba Liberal candidates to vote for," he said.

Chris Adams, an adjunct professor of political studies says fewer Liberals could be good news for Wab Kinew and the NDP.

"The Liberal supporters, if they can't find a Liberal candidates, it's likely that they'll go over to the NDP, rather than the PCs," said Adams.

Of the eight seats without the Liberals, Adams says most are seen as PC strongholds, but he notes there could be tight racers in both Selkirk and Dauphin.

"Those are two constituencies that the NDP want to bring back into the fold that the PCs had taken away from them."

Kinew was asked if he believes this gives his party an advantage.

"You know, I'm never going to take the work of earning the support of people in Selkirk and Dauphin and other communities for granted," said Kinew.

It's not just the Liberals who have fewer candidates. The number of Green Party candidates has also dropped compared to 2019.

Curtis Brown with Probe Research says, all parties are facing challenges attracting people to run in the current environment.

"The sort of abuse and stuff people have to deal with on social media and the doorstep, all those sorts of things tie in," said Brown.

There are fewer candidates running across the board compared to 2019 – there were 235 candidates then and 189 now.

CTV News has reached out to the PCs for an interview and have yet to hear back.