Candidates vying to become the next leader of B.C.'s New Democrat Party have hit the home stretch in their leadership race, but they're struggling to general public excitement about the upcoming vote.
Contender Mike Farnworth, MLA for Port Coquitlam Burke Mountain, said though party members are eagerly awaiting the April 17 ballot, major events such as the aftermath of the massive earthquakes in Japan are making it tough to attract the general public.
Not to mention the recent BC Liberal leadership race, which saw Christy Clark take the helm as premier of the province.
"It's certainly got the public's attention right now and rightly so," he said prior to a province-wide tour kicking off Sunday with a debate on education.
"But I think there is an awareness amongst the public 1/8that 3/8 we've got a race going on, and I think the public is going to be interested in the outcome."
With less than a month to go, Farnworth said he and the other four candidates -- MLAs Adrian Dix, John Horgan and Nicholas Simons and marijuana activist Dana Larsen -- will keep pushing for MLA support and talking to as many party members as possible.
Dennis Pilon, a political scientist at the University of Victoria, said the public doesn't have as much at stake in the NDP leadership election as they did in the BC Liberal race.
"Naturally, the party of government attracts more attention because the candidates are going to be able to immediately exercise some power," Pilon said. "Whereas the New Democrats are waiting for power."
Candidates will have to try even harder to nab the media spotlight, Pilon said, after Clark, in her first action as premier, raised B.C.'s minimum wage from $8 an hour to $10.25 starting in May 2012 -- a key item on the BC NDP agenda.
The Liberal contest, he added, was triggered by the public's own outcry over former premier Gordon Campbell's mishandling of the harmonized sales tax. Campbell announced his exit Nov. 3 after a television address that promised a tax cut failed to save his crumbling reputation.
" 1/8The HST is 3/8 a story that has traction outside of the party," he said. "The New Democrats, it's about what's going on inside the party, which is not as interesting to the general public."
The NDP is still struggling to repair divisions over the departure of former party chief Carole James, who was forced out by dissidents within her own party ranks.
Farnworth said contenders and party members have worked hard to put up a united front during the leadership campaign.
"There's a real sense from the candidates themselves we've made it clear that's what we have to do," he said. "I feel really positive and optimistic about what's taken place."
Dix, MLA for Vancouver-Kingsway, does not believe the Liberal race cast any shadow over his party. Leadership races don't get much attention until the home stretch anyway, he said.
Speaking after a campaign visit in Prince Rupert, B.C., Dix also played up a unanimous party front.
"Over the next three weeks, we're going to see a lot of party members again side by side in debate," he said. "I'm looking forward to it."
Unlike the BC Liberals, whose leadership vote weighted the ballots of less populated, rural ridings, the NDP is sticking to a one-member, one-vote system.
They will have six days of advance polling by phone and online beginning April 11, and members will also be able to cast ballots at a leadership convention on voting day.
