Darren Hirsch thanks PC members at Higdon Hall after capturing the Tory nomination for the Medicine Hat riding on Saturday.--NEWS PHOTO ALEX MCCUAIG

Says party is united
ALEX McCUAIG
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There was both tears and cheers as city PC members said goodbye to outgoing MLA Rob Renner and welcomed the party's new candidate for the Medicine Hat constituency Darren Hirsch on Saturday.
The vote at Higdon Hall started with some grumbling about an email sent the day before by the Hirsch camp encouraging members to place only his name on the preferential ballot which asks members to rank their choices. But with the 398 cast ballots counted, constituency members passed a motion to unanimously support Hirsch as their Tory candidate.
"It was an awesome race. I want to thank the candidates as well, they did an awesome job and the fact of the matter is we're a united party as a result," said Hirsch.
"The support was overwhelming so I was really pleased with the turnout as well."
The breakdown of the voting results weren't released as per constituency rules.
As for the next step for Hirsch, he said he'll be gearing up again as the province heads into its general election.
If vaulted to the MLA position in that race, Hirsch said he wants to, "go back to the people.
"I have a good pulse in terms of what the needs of Medicine Hat are. I want to get a sense of any imminent needs and deal with them right away. I still stand on my platform of economic development for Medicine Hat."
Hirsch added he'll also be tackling the issue of the Dunmore Road overpass as well as hospital expansion if elected provincially.
"I don't underestimate any opponent," he said of the upcoming election.
"I act as if I'm in last place and I think if I have that mentality, work hard and look to represent the people of Medicine Hat who drive me everyday, I think we'll be successful."
Outgoing MLA Rob Renner didn't endorse any specific nominee candidate but put his full support behind Hirsch once the vote was counted.
"I was very pleased to see unanimous support for the winning candidate," said Renner.
"We have a candidate going into the election with a broad base of support and the other (nomination) candidates that have pledged to work on that campaign. I think It's a good day for Medicine Hat ."
Renner said he doesn't expect when Albertans head to the polls it will be a cakewalk for Tories. But he said the PCs are in a "tremendously strong position to win the next election and I have every reason to believe that Darren will be the next MLA."
Renner's predecessor in the riding, Jim Horsman, also threw his support behind Hirsch, wishing the new PC Medicine Hat candidate the best of luck going forward.
"This is only part of the process," said Horsman, "The big test will come in the next few months."
As for predicting the results of the election expected sometime in March or April, Horsman said Hirsch will do well.
"He's young, he's had experience serving people as an alderman, he's been around the party since I was a member of the legislature — he was part of the young Conservative group in those days. He's got a lot of enthusiasm for it and I wish him very well."
Hirsch beat out PC nominee candidates Ian Baird, Linda Rossler and Dan Hein.
A date for the general election has not been called though Premier Alison Redford has indicated it will occur once the provincial budget is passed. It's expected to be presented to legislature on Feb. 9.
Hirsch joins the NDP's Dennis Perrier and Wildrose's Blake Pedersen as candidates for the Medicine Hat riding.