Early this morning, Premier Rachel Notley dropped the writ and the Alberta elections are off to the races.

 One day after the Speech from the Throne, Notley dropped the writ and announced that Alberta voters will head to the polls on April 16.

Rachel Notley topped the Progressive Conservatives 44-year-long reign four years ago with a stunning move to power.

Notley will attempt to get the NDP re-elected, while the Progressive Conservatives and the Wildrose Party merged to form the United Conservative Party spearheaded by Jason Kenney.

Also in the race is the Alberta Liberals led by David Khan, the Alberta Party led by Stephen Mandel and the Freedom Conservative Party led by Derek Fildebrandt.

For this election, Airdrie has been split into two ridings: Airdrie-Cochrane and Airdrie-East.

In the new Airdrie-Cochrane riding, the NDP candidate is Steve Durrel, the UCP's is Peter Guthrie and the Freedom Conservative Party's is Matthew Morrisey.

After months of doorknocking, many candidates are glad there's finally a finish line.

"For myself, it's been a year and a half of campaigning," Guthrie explained. "So obviously I'm pretty excited to get down to the last 28 days."

The UCP candidate said he believes this election will focus on Alberta's economy.

"We really hear it when we're doorknocking, the message is about jobs, the economy, pipelines, bureaucracy and red tape, and spending," Guthrie said.

In Airdrie-East, UCP candidate Angela Pitt the incumbent, the NDP's candidate is Rosa Evelia Baex Zamora, the Alberta Party nominee is Alexandra Luterbach, and the Freedom Conservative Party candidate is Ricky Northey.

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