The Pollcast: 6 months to go before B.C. goes to the polls

The CBCPollcast, hosted by CBC poll analyst ric Grenier, explores the world of electoralpolitics,political polls and the trends they reveal.

The next provincial election in British Columbia is six short months away, and the campaigning has already unofficially begun.

Will British Columbians decide to re-elect Christy Clark's B.C. Liberals, a party that has been in power since 2001? Or will they instead install John Horgan's New Democrats, setting off a possible confrontation with the neighbouring NDP government in Albertaover pipelines?

And will pollsters get redemption after missing the call in 2013?

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The B.C. election will be held on May 9. Polls suggest the race is close. While the New Democrats were leading in the polls by about 16 points at this point in 2012, the latest survey puts the gap between the two parties at just one point.

Clark has a booming economy on her side, but after 15 years in power the B.C. Liberal government is long in the tooth. Horganstill has a low profile, and is challenged from the left by the B.C. Greens, who hold one seat in the legislature and have designs on more.

Richard Zussman, the CBC'slegislative reporter in B.C.,joins podcasthostricGrenier to break down the coming election season.

Listen to the full discussion above or subscribe to the CBCPollcast and listen to past episodes.

Follow ric Grenierand Richard Zussmanon Twitter.