And they're off.

The incumbent Liberals, the upstart New Democrats and the revitalized Conservatives all have candidates for a byelection set to be called in Chilliwack-Hope between April and July.

With Barry Penner gone, either Laurie Throness, Gwen O'Mahony or John Martin will represent the riding in Victoria until the May 2013 general election.

One is a long-time poltical insider, one a two-time politician wannabe, and one an outspoken political critic.

And while the riding has been firmly held by the BC Liberals for some time, there is some talk the burgeoning Conservatives could steal the right-of-centre vote away now that the popular Penner has stepped down.

But what there is even more talk about is that the BC Conservative revitalization could steal just enough of the small "c" conservative vote away from the BC Liberals that the NDP could win the riding.

In the 2009 election, O'Mahony ran for the NDP in Chilliwack-Hope and received 5,638 votes behind Penner's 8,985 votes.

Conservative candidate Hans Mulder received 1,198 votes, but that was before Martin, Cummins and the total re-invention of the party.

If 3,500 of those BC Liberal votes slid over to the Conservatives, all other things being equal, the New Democrats would indeed win.

But let's be realistic: for all their faults and foibles in recent months and years, the BC Liberals run a slick political campaign, which will be particularly focused on Chilliwack-Hope.

And our local BC Liberal candidate will not only have the full political machinations working for his byelection win, but Throness has the full and very powerful backing of former MP Chuck Strahl.

The byelection could indeed be interesting, but with two political machines rolling for Throness, the Libs will be hard to beat.