After weeks of speculation and one day after her throne speech in the legislature, Premier Rachel Notley announced April 16th as the date for the upcoming provincial election on Tuesday at an event in Calgary at the National Music Centre. 

Notley is, of course, the head of the leader of the New Democratic Party since October 18th of 2014, and won the provincial election on May 5th of 2015 to become Premier. Currently, they hold 54 seats

She faces a strong challenge in Jason Kenney and the United Conservative Party, who maintains their support despite recent scandals involving party members having to drop out of the race or resign due to inflammatory statements or connections to white supremacist groups or ideology. They currently hold 25 seats.

Stephen Mandel of the Alberta Party recently made news saying their party would call for mandatory vaccinations for children who attend any publicly funded school. They currently hold 3 seats.

David Khan heads up the sometimes forgotten Liberal Party of Alberta, and behind them is the Freedom Conservatives, led by former UCP member Derek Fildebrandt.

Both the Alberta Party and Freedom Conservatives currently hold one seat each.