Albertans will have to wait a few more weeks to find out who will replace Ed Stelmach as their premier.
The race to succeed Stelmach as the leader of the powerful Alberta Progressive Conservatives must go to a second ballot on Oct. 1.
That runoff is necessary because none of the six people vying for the job got the required 50-per-cent support in the first ballot on Saturday.
Former health minister Gary Mar was the top choice Saturday, taking 41 per cent of the ballots cast by party members.
He was followed by former justice minister Alison Redford, who took nearly 19 per cent, and former deputy premier Doug Horner at just over 14 per cent.
The bottom three contenders -- former finance minister Ted Morton, Don Getty-era cabinet minister Rick Orman, and backbencher Doug Griffiths -- failed to get enough votes and were eliminated from the October ballot.
But the larger story emerging from Saturday's vote is the low turnout by members of the powerful party, which has ruled Alberta for 40 years.
Less than 60,000 members cast ballots, a big drop from the nearly 98,000 who voted in the first round of the 2006 contest that saw Stelmach eventually succeed Ralph Klein in the premier's chair.
The leadership contest comes at a crucial time for the Tories. They have won 11 consecutive majority governments, but their popularity is being challenged by the new right-of-centre Wildrose Party.
Mar, 49, conceded the party has been struggling.
"The voter turnout was low," said Mar, adding the result "tells us that we've got a lot of work to do to be able to build up support for our Progressive Conservative Party."
But party president Bill Smith dismisses turnout concerns, noting that core supporters in the rural regions are in the middle of harvest season.
"It's hard to get votes out in the summer," says Smith. "A lot of our agricultural friends are doing what they need to do to make their living."
Observers and polls pegged Mar as the front runner heading into Saturday. As many also predicted, Mar did not have enough support to avoid a second ballot.
Mar campaigned on expanding Alberta trade by smashing through to Pacific Rim markets while at the same time diversifying the economy at home.
His idea is to draw citizens more into public decision-making and lead a government that is a paragon of transparency.
It was a relatively quiet campaign of editorial boards, pancake breakfasts and industry meet-and-greets.
Mar's team has sparred most with Redford, a fellow progressive Tory who, like Mar, has strong roots in Calgary.
Mar pointed to the recent spike in homicides in Edmonton as an example of Redford, 46, failing as justice minister to implement effective anti-crime measures.
Mar was Alberta's envoy in Washington before joining the race. Redford has slammed Mar, saying he failed as Alberta's envoy by allowing environmentalists to frame the province as a purveyor of dirty oil.
Redford welcomed her spot in the runoff vote.
"They said they want change and this is a signal that we can deliver that on a second ballot," she said.
"People are starting to believe it and we have two more weeks to convince people that what we can do right now is set a changing direction for this province that allows us to exceed our wildest expectations."
The biggest fireworks in the campaign came over Mar's call to at least talk about introducing more private delivery into the public-health system.
Redford jumped on Mar, trying to find the wedge issue that would bring lukewarm supporters from his camp over to hers.
