Christy Clark is the clear frontrunner in the race to lead the BC Liberals, but a rival's supporters are warning her election could spell the end of the party.

 A poll commissioned by Clark's campaign team shows her with the support of 43 per cent of Liberal members, far out-pacing second place George Abbott, who has 27-per-cent support.

Supporters of her opponent Kevin Falcon have commissioned a poll of their own, asking Liberal voters: "Which candidate would make you less likely to vote BC Liberal (in the next election)?"

Twenty-five per cent answered Clark, while nine per cent said Abbott and eight per cent said Falcon.

The message appeared tailored to scare Liberal supporters away from Clark. Falcon supporter and long-time politician John Reynolds has gone so far as to suggest her election as leader could drive the party apart.

"I see a pretty concerned group of people that if Christy Clark was to become the leader of this party, that they'd be meeting Sunday and I bet you you'll see some action very, very quickly," Reynolds said.

He predicts dissenters might be motivated to form a new party, perhaps called the British Columbia Party.

The BC Liberal party is a coalition of federal Conservative and Liberal supporters, but many Conservatives see Clark as too close to the Liberals. Her brother is a party fundraiser and her ex-husband is a party strategist.

Clark denies being a federal Liberal, but so far has attracted only one Liberal MLA as a supporter.

Falcon has 19 MLAs lined up behind him, a point he likes to bring up in interviews and debates, in which he has sold himself as "the best candidate to keep our coalition together."

But he isn't prepared to spread fear about Clark driving the party apart.

"I'm not going to try and pretend there's going to be some terrible change if Christy Clark becomes leader. I'll stand behind her," Falcon said.

Clark wasn't available for comment Thursday, but the campaign's internal poll shows that she has a two-point lead over Abbott and a seven-point lead over Falcon with BC Liberals who support the federal Conservatives.

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Rob Brown