2004 Alberta general election

The 2004 Alberta general election was held on November 22, 2004 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.

The election was called on October 25, 2004. Premier Ralph Klein decided to go to the polls earlier than the legislated deadline of March 2006. This election was held in conjunction with the 2004 Alberta Senate nominee election.

When the election was called, it was expected to be anticlimactic, with Klein cruising to his fourth straight majority, the tenth for his Progressive Conservative Party.

Shortly after the drop of the writs, Klein's mother died and all parties suspended their campaigns for several days. After the campaign resumed, Klein avoided making any policy announcements and attended few events. One commentator called it "Kleinfeld: the campaign about nothing" (a reference to the television sitcom Seinfeld). The Liberal Party, which had hoped to hold on to the five seats it had and regain the two seats that it had lost to resignations, began to pick up momentum and became far more optimistic.

In the end, the Conservatives were re-elected, despite losing 11 seats and 15% of the popular vote, having dropped to a minority position in the polls. The Liberals more than doubled their seats by electing 17 MLAs on election night The Liberals dominated in Edmonton and made strong inroads in Calgary.

The Alberta New Democrats (NDP) held on to their two seats and gained two more, all in Edmonton.

The Conservatives swept rural Alberta except for one seat that went to the Alberta Alliance, which also placed second in a number of rural ridings. The Conservatives received no more than 56 percent of the vote in any of the three rural regions so was very much over-represented by its almost-total one-party sweep of the rural seats.

The Alberta Greens gained in the popular vote, jumping from 0.3% in the 2001 election to 2.8%, and placed third in some places. Despite placing second in the riding of Drayton Valley-Calmar ahead of the Liberals, it did not win any seats.

Social Credit placed third in a number of ridings, and its leader tied for second in Rocky Mountain House.

The Conservative, Liberal and NDP leaders all easily held onto their own seats.

Electoral System

Alberta's 83 MLAs were elected through First-past-the-post voting in 83 single-member districts.

Election night summary

Overall voter turnout was 45.12%.

centre|300px

{| class="wikitable"

!rowspan="2" colspan="2"|Party

!rowspan="2"|Party leader

!rowspan="2"|# of candidates

!colspan="4"|Seats

!colspan="3"|Popular vote

!2001

!Dissolution

!Elected

!% Change

| Progressive Conservative

| Ralph Klein

| align="right"|83

| align="right"|74

| align="right"|73

| align="right"|622

| align="right"|-15.1%

| align="right"|416,886

| align="right"|46.8%

| align="right"|-15.1%

| Kevin Taft

| align="right"|82

| align="right"|7

| align="right"|5

| align="right"|162

| align="right"|+220%

| align="right"|261,737

| align="right"|29.4%

| align="right"|+2.1%

| NDP

| Brian Mason

| align="right"|83

| align="right"|2

| align="right"|4

| align="right"|+100%

| align="right"|90,829

| align="right"|10.2%

| align="right"|+2.1%

| Randy Thorsteinson

| align="right"|83

| align="right"|*

| align="right"|1

| align="right"|-

| align="right"|77,466

| align="right"|8.7%

| align="right"|*

| George Read

| align="right"|49

| align="right"|-

| align="right"|24,451

| align="right"|2.8%

| align="right"|+2.5%

| Social Credit

| Lavern Ahlstrom

| align="right"|42

| align="right"|-

| align="right"|10,998

| align="right"|1.2%

| align="right"|+0.7%

| Separation

| Bruce Hutton

| align="right"|12

| align="right"|*

| align="right"|-

| align="right"|4,695

| align="right"|0.5%

| align="right"|-0.37%1

| Alberta Party

| Bruce Stubbs

| align="right"|4

| align="right"|*

| align="right"|-

| align="right"|2,481

| align="right"|0.3%

| align="right"|*

| colspan="2"|Independent

| align="right"|10

| align="right"|-

| align="right"|994

| align="right"|0.1%

| align="right"|-0.9%

| Naomi Rankin

| align="right"|2

| align="right"|-

| align="right"|98

| align="right"|<0.1%

| align="right"|~0%

|rowspan="2"|   

|colspan="3"|Vacant

| align="right"|*

|align="right"|2

|align="center" colspan="5"| 

| colspan="2"|Total

!align="right"|450

!align="right"|83

!align="right"|-

!align="right"|890,635

!align="right"|100%

!align="right"| 

Note:

:<nowiki>*</nowiki> The Alberta Alliance and Alberta Party did not contest the 2001 election.

:1 The Separation Party results are compared to the Alberta First Party.

:2 A judicial recount changed the results in Edmonton Castle Downs, Liberal. Chris Kibermanis lost to Progressive Conservative Thomas Lukaszuk.

Results by region

{| class="wikitable"

! align="center" colspan="3"|Party name

! align="center"|Cgy.

! align="center"|Edm.1

! align="center"|Leth.

! align="center"|R.D.

! align="center"|North

! align="center"|Central

! align="center"|South

! align="center"|Total

| rowspan="2"|Progressive Conservative

| Seats:

| align="right"|20

| align="right"|3

| align="right"|1

| align="right"|2

| align="right"|10

| align="right"|19

| align="right"|7

| align="right"|61

| Popular vote:

| align="right"|50.5%

| align="right"|31.5%

| align="right"|38.3%

| align="right"|44.1%

| align="right"|55.5%

| align="right"|52.7%

| align="right"|55.1%

| align="right"|46.8%

| rowspan="2"|Liberal

| Seats:

| align="right"|3

| align="right"|11

| align="right"|1

| align="right"| 

| align="right"|1

| align="right"| 

| align="right"|16

| Popular vote:

| align="right"|32.1%

| align="right"|40.3%

| align="right"|37.9%

| align="right"|32.5%

| align="right"|19.8%

| align="right"|21.9%

| align="right"|19.1%

| align="right"|29.4%

| rowspan="2"|New Democrats

| Seats:

| align="right"| 

| align="right"|4

| align="right"| 

| align="right"|4

| Popular vote:

| align="right"|4.9%

| align="right"|22.0%

| align="right"|8.1%

| align="right"|6.1%

| align="right"|8.6%

| align="right"|7.9%

| align="right"|4.4%

| align="right"|10.2%

| rowspan="2"|Alberta Alliance

| Seats:

| align="right"| 

| align="right"|1

| Popular vote:

| align="right"|6.5%

| align="right"|4.2%

| align="right"|10.2%

| align="right"|14.9%

| align="right"|13.8%

| align="right"|11.3%

| align="right"|13.1%

| align="right"|8.7%

| colspan=3|Total seats:

! align="right"|23

! align="right"|18

! align="right"|2

! align="right"|10

! align="right"|20

! align="right"|8

! align="right"|83

|colspan="10"|Parties that won no seats:

| Popular vote:

| align="right"|5.5%

| align="right"|1.0%

| align="right"|3.1%

| align="right"|1.2%

| align="right"|1.1%

| align="right"|2.5%

| align="right"|2.1%

| align="right"|2.8%

|Social Credit

| Popular vote:

| align="right"|0.3%

| align="right"|0.8%

| align="right"|2.6%

| align="right"|-

| align="right"|1.1%

| align="right"|2.3%

| align="right"|2.4%

| align="right"|1.2%

|Separation

| Popular Vote:

| align="right"|0.2%

| align="right"|-

| align="right"|1.3%

| align="right"|-

| align="right"|0.9%

| align="right"|2.6%

| align="right"|0.5%

|Alberta Party

| Popular vote:

| align="right"|<0.1%

| align="right"|-

| align="right"|0.6%

| align="right"|1.3%

| align="right"|0.3%

| Popular vote:

| align="right"|<0.1%

| align="right"|-

| align="right"|<0.1%

|Independents

| Popular vote:

| align="right"|0.1%

| align="right"|0.2%

| align="right"|-

| align="right"|0.1%

| align="right"|-

| align="right"|0.1%

1 "Edmonton" corresponds to only the city of Edmonton. (Only the ridings whose names begin with "Edmonton".) The four suburban ridings around the city as listed below are grouped with Central Alberta in this table.

Results by riding

{| class="wikitable"

|colspan=2|Party

!Seats

!Second

!Third

!Fourth

!Fifth

!Sixth—

| Progressive Conservative

|align=center|62

|align=center|20

|align=center|1

|align=center|0

|align=center|16

|align=center|50

|align=center|16

|align=center|0

| New Democratic Party

|align=center|4

|align=center|2

|align=center|29

|align=center|27

|align=center|18

|align=center|3

|align=center|1

|align=center|10

|align=center|26

|align=center|37

|align=center|9

|align=center|0

| Green

|align=center|0

|align=center|1

|align=center|9

|align=center|12

|align=center|23

|align=center|4

|Social Credit

|align=center|0

|align=center|1

|align=center|3

|align=center|17

|align=center|21

|Separation

|align=center|0

|align=center|2

|align=center|4

|align=center|6

|Alberta Party

|align=center|0

|align=center|1

|align=center|2

|align=center|0

|align=center|1

Names in bold indicate party leaders and cabinet ministers.

Northern Alberta

{|class="wikitable" style="width:100%"

!rowspan=3 colspan=2|Electoral District

!colspan=6|Candidates

!rowspan=3 colspan=2|Incumbent

!PC

!Liberal

!NDP

!Alliance

!Green

!Other

|rowspan=3 bgcolor=whitesmoke| Athabasca-Redwater

|rowspan=3 |

|rowspan=3|Mike Cardinal 5,706

|rowspan=3|Nicole Belland 3,258

|rowspan=3|Peter Opryshko 1,407

|rowspan=3|Sean Whelan 1,174

|rowspan=3|Luke de Smet 252

|rowspan=3|Leonard Fish (Soc. Cred.) 179

|Mike Cardinal Athabasca-Wabasca

|colspan=2 align=center|merged district

|Dave Broda† Redwater

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock

|Ken Kowalski 6,967

|Alan Fiebich 2,250

|Peggy Kirkeby 1,098

|Mike Radojcic 1,012

|Carl Haugen (Soc. Cred.) 404

|Ken Kowalski Barrhead-Westlock

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Bonnyville-Cold Lake

|Denis Ducharme 3,621

|Lloyd Mildon 797

|Denise Ogonoski 312

|Shane Gervais 955

|Denis Ducharme

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Dunvegan-Central Peace

|Hector Goudreau 3,670

|Don Thompson 689

|Leon R. Pendleton 446

|Dale Lueken 3,332

|Lanny Portsmouth (Soc. Cred.) 118

|Hector Goudreau Dunvegan

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo

|Guy Boutilier 4,429

|Russell Collicott 1,800

|Dave Malka 460

|Eugene Eklund 224

|Reginald Normore (Ind.) 94

|Guy Boutilier Fort McMurray

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Grande Prairie-Smoky

|Mel Knight 4,369

|Neil Peacock 1,965

|Georgina Szoke 724

|Hank Rahn 688

|Mel Knight

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Grande Prairie-Wapiti

|Gordon Graydon 4,348

|Cibylla Rakestraw 1,677

|Jerry Macdonald 972

|John Hilton-O'Brien 547

|Allan Webber 348

|Gordon Graydon

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Lac La Biche-St. Paul

|Ray Danyluk 4,898

|Dickson Broomfield 1,877

|Phil Goebel 648

|Oscar Lacombe 1,703

|Ray Danyluk

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Lesser Slave Lake

|Pearl Calahasen 3,894

|Jonathan Pleckaitis 530

|Doris Bannister 354

|Valerie Rahn 977

|Ian Hopfe 254

|Pearl Calahasen

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Peace River

|Frank Oberle 2,888

|Adam Bourque 1,101

|Stephen Crocker 558

|Gary Checknita 541

|Patsy Lindberg (Soc. Cred.) 204

|Gary Friedel†

Western and Central Alberta

{|class="wikitable"

!width=15% rowspan=3 colspan=2|Electoral District

!colspan=6|Candidates

!width=18% rowspan=3 colspan=2|Incumbent

!width=12%|PC

!width=12%|Liberal

!width=12%|NDP

!width=12%|Alliance

!width=12%|Green

!width=13%|Other

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Banff-Cochrane

|Janis Tarchuk 4,236

|Ian McDougall 1,649

|Melissa Cambridge 468

|Bob Argent 476

|Chris Foote 1,205

|Janis Tarchuk

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Drayton Valley-Calmar

|Tony Abbott 5,231

|Laura Higgerty 890

|Lynn Oberle 641

|Viona Cunningham 764

|Edwin Erickson 927

|Thomas Cliff (Soc. Cred.) 244 Elmer Knopp (Ind.) 115

|Tony Abbott

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Foothills-Rocky View

|Ted Morton 6,770

|Herb Coburn 1,954

|Roland Schmidt 232

|Jason Herasemluk 1,081

|Shelley Willson 1,186

|colspan=2|New district

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Innisfail-Sylvan Lake

|Luke Ouellette 6,206

|Garth Davis 1,816

|Chris Janke 585

|Randy Thorsteinson 2,242

|Wilf Tricker (Soc. Cred.) 349

|Luke Ouellette

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills

|Richard Marz 7,277

|Tony Vonesch 1,336

|Christopher Davies 257

|Gordon Quantz 2,021

|Sarah Henckel-Sutmoller 469

|Brian Vasseur (Sep. Pty.) 746 Myrna Kissick (Soc. Cred.) 143

|Richard Marz

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Red Deer-North

|Mary Anne Jablonski 3,736

|Norm McDougall 2,640

|Steven Bedford 430

|Rand Sisson 1,660

|Colin Fisher 244

|Mary Anne Jablonski

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Red Deer-South

|Victor Doerksen 5,371

|Walter Kubanek 4,073

|Jeff Sloychuk 836

|Patti Argent 1,418

|Judy Milne (Sep. Pty.) 261

|Victor Doerksen

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Rocky Mountain House

|Ty Lund 5,773

|Susan M. Scott 1,267

|Anthony Jones 300

|Ed Wilhite 810

|Jennifer Isaac 337

|Lavern Ahlstrom (Soc. Cred.) 1,267 Bruce Hutton (Sep. Pty.) 505

|Ty Lund

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Stony Plain

|Fred Lindsay 5,644

|Bill Fraser 3,402

|Ruth Yanor 1,375

|Marilyn Burns 1,878

|Henry Neumann (Soc. Cred.) 245

|Stan Woloshyn†

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|West Yellowhead

|Ivan Strang 3,769

|Rob Jolly 1,682

|Barry Madsen 1,783

|Earl Cunningham 615

|Monika Schaefer 360

|Ivan Strang

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Whitecourt-Ste. Anne

|George VanderBurg 5,071

|George Higgerty 1,219

|Leah Redmond 996

|David Dow 2,333

|George VanderBurg

East Central Alberta

{|class="wikitable"

!width=15% rowspan=3 colspan=2|Electoral District

!colspan=6|Candidates

!width=18% rowspan=3 colspan=2|Incumbent

!width=12%|PC

!width=12%|Liberal

!width=12%|NDP

!width=12%|Alliance

!width=12%|Green

!width=13%|Other

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Battle River-Wainwright

|Doug Griffiths 6,409

|Gordon Rogers 1,069

|Len Legault 616

|Orest Werzak 1,440

|Robin Skitteral (Soc. Cred.) 319

|Doug Griffiths Wainwright

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Drumheller-Stettler

|Shirley McClellan 6,770

|Richard Bough 890

|Dave France 1,413

|Eileen Walker (Ab Pty.) 616 Dave Carnegie (Sep. Pty.) 465 Mary-Lou Kloppenburg (Soc. Cred.) 279

|Shirley McClellan Drumheller-Chinook

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville

|Ed Stelmach 6,160

|Peter Schneider 3,160

|Wes Buyarski 1,633

|Byron King 1,411

|Mark Patterson (Soc. Cred.) 379

|Ed Stelmach Vegreville-Viking

|rowspan=3 bgcolor=whitesmoke|Lacombe-Ponoka

|rowspan=3 |

|rowspan=3|Ray Prins 6,919

|rowspan=3|Glen Simmonds 2,218

|rowspan=3|Jim Graves 1,124

|rowspan=3|Ed Klop 2,349

|rowspan=3| 

|rowspan=3|Teena Cormack (Soc. Cred.) 467

||Judy Gordon

|colspan=2 align=center|Merged district

|Halvar Jonson

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Leduc-Beaumont-Devon

|George Rogers 6,809

|Joyce Assen 3,425

|Katie Oppen 904

|Dave Dalke 1,140

|Stephen Lindop 381

|Karen Richert (Soc. Cred.) 249

|Albert Klapstein† Leduc

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Vermilion-Lloydminster

|Lloyd Snelgrove 5,464

|Patricia Thomas 706

|Ray Stone 553

|David Benoit 2,437

|Lloyd Snelgrove

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Wetaskiwin-Camrose

|LeRoy Johnson 6,177

|Keith Elliott 2,713

|Clay Lawson 908

|Dale Trefz 1,193

|Janice Wolter (Soc. Cred.) 309

|LeRoy Johnson

Central Edmonton

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Edmonton Beverly Clareview

|Julius Yankowsky 3,059

|Sam Parmar 1,166

|Ray Martin 5,268

|Phil Gamache 457

|Benoit Couture 141

|Ken Shipka (Soc. Cred.) 283

|Julius Yankowsky

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Edmonton Centre

|Don Weideman 2,622

|Laurie Blakeman 6,236

|Mary Elizabeth Archer 1,538

|Tony Caterina 264

|David J. Parker 336

|Linda Clements (Soc. Cred.) 111

|Laurie Blakeman

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Edmonton-Glenora

|Drew Hutton 3,758

|Bruce Miller 4,610

|Larry Booi 4,059

|Blaine Currie 307

|Peter Johnston 272

|Walter Schachenhofer (Soc. Cred.) 112

|Drew Hutton

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Edmonton Gold Bar

|Manjit Dhaliwal 2,574

|Hugh MacDonald 8,794

|Keith Turnbull 1,966

|Delmar Hunt 538

|Dave Dowling (Ind.) 167

|Hugh MacDonald

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Edmonton Highlands-Norwood

|Terry Martiniuk 2,209

|Jason Manzevich 1,035

|Brian Mason 6,053

|Ray Loyer 315

|Dale W. Ferris (Ind.) 66

|Brian Mason

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Edmonton Mill Creek

|Gene Zwozdesky 5,071

|Aman Gill 4,286

|Nathan Taylor 1,709

|Robert Alford 523

|Eric Steiglitz 386

|Cameron Johnson (Ind.) 72

|Gene Zwozdesky

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Edmonton-Mill Woods

|Naresh Bhardwaj 2,989

|Weslyn Mather 5,014

|Lloyd Nelson 1,565

|Charles Relland 816

|Naomi Rankin (Communist) 42

|Don Massey

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Edmonton Riverview

|Fred Horne 3,571

|Kevin Taft 10,279

|Donna Martyn 1,053

|David Edgar 315

|John Lackey 355

|Dave W. Power (Soc. Cred.) 111

|Kevin Taft

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Edmonton Rutherford

|Ian McClelland 4,173

|Rick Miller 7,217

|George A. Slade 995

|R. J. (Bob) Ewart 516

|Anit Ashmore (Soc. Cred.) 210

|Ian McClelland

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Edmonton-Strathcona

|Shannon Stubbs 2,256

|Steven Leard 1,850

|Raj Pannu 7,430

|Jeremy Burns 275

|Adrian Cole 287

|Kelly Graham (Soc. Cred.) 162

|Raj Pannu

Suburban Edmonton and Environs

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Edmonton-Calder

|Brent Rathgeber 3,680

|Brad Smith 3,028

|David Eggen 4,055

|Vicki Kramer 526

|Brent Rathgeber

|rowspan=2 bgcolor=whitesmoke|Edmonton Castle Downs

{| border="1" align=right valign=bottom cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse"

| Election

| Recount

|Thomas Lukaszuk 5,014

|Chris Kibermanis 5,019

|Peter Cross 1,317

|Colin Presizniuk 583

|Ross Korpi (Soc. Cred.) 78

|rowspan=2 |

|rowspan=2|Thomas Lukaszuk

|5,022

|5,019

|1,314

|586

|78

|rowspan=3 bgcolor=whitesmoke|Edmonton Decore

|rowspan=3|

|rowspan=3|Walter Szwender 3,033

|rowspan=3 |

|rowspan=3|Bill Bonko 4,418

|rowspan=3|

|rowspan=3|Shirley Barg 1,524

|rowspan=3|

|rowspan=3|Gary Masyk 830

|rowspan=3|

|rowspan=3|Geoffrey Chevrier (Soc. Cred.) 94

|Bill Bonner

|colspan=2 align="center"|merged district

|Gary Masyk

|bgcolor=whitesmoke |Edmonton Ellerslie

|Gurnam Dodd 3,245

|Bharat Agnihotri 3,444

|Marilyn Assheton-Smith 2,257

|Eleanor Maroes 985

|Amelia Maciejewski (Soc. Cred.) 238

|vacant

|bgcolor=whitesmoke |Edmonton-Manning

|Tony Vandermeer 3,646

|Dan Backs 3,873

|Laurie Lang 2,371

|Mike Pietramala 515

|Ross Adshead 240

|Sean Tisdall (Soc. Cred.) 130

|Tony Vandermeer

|bgcolor=whitesmoke |Edmonton McClung

|Mark Norris 5,331

|Mo Elsalhy 5,864

|Lorne Dach 1,362

|Reuben Bauer 401

|Patrick Conlin (Soc. Cred.) 104

|Mark Norris

|bgcolor=whitesmoke |Edmonton Meadowlark

|Bob Maskell 4,243

|Maurice Tougas 4,436

|Lance Burns 1,303

|Aaron Campbell 444

|Amanda Doyle 245

|Peggy Morton (Ind.) 77

|Bob Maskell

|bgcolor=whitesmoke |Edmonton-Whitemud

|Dave Hancock 7,493

|Donna L. Smith 6,567

|Brian Fleck 1,634

|Kathy Rayner 469

|John Andrews (Ind.) 76

|David Hancock

|bgcolor=whitesmoke |Sherwood Park

|Iris Evans 7,276

|Louise Rogers 5,587

|Tim Sloan 994

|Cora LaBonte 444

|Lynn Lau 362

|Gordon Barrett (Soc. Cred.) 474

|Iris Evans

|bgcolor=whitesmoke |Spruce Grove-Sturgeon-St. Albert

|Doug Horner 6,140

|Ray Boudreau 5,559

|Dale Apostal 1,020

|Tim Friesen 740

|Glen Blaylock (Soc. Cred.) 170

|Doug Horner

|bgcolor=whitesmoke |St. Albert

|Mary O'Neill 6,064

|Jack Flaherty 6,474

|Travis Thompson 1,652

|Michaela Meldrum 591

|Conrad Bitangcol 407

|Mary O'Neill

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Strathcona

|Rob Lougheed 6,838

|Jon Friel 4,115

|Tom Elchuk 1,177

|Ryan Seto 466

|Bruce Stubbs (Ab. Pty.) 775 Brian Rembowski (Soc. Cred.) 327 Roberta McDonald (Separation) 297

|Recreated District

Southern Alberta

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Airdrie-Chestermere

|Carol Haley 6,842

|John Burke 1,633

|Grant Massie 569

|Bradley Gaida 758

|Angela Scully 434

|Jeff Willerton (Alberta Pty.) 1,036 Bob Lefurgey (Separation) 394 Jerry Gautreau (Soc. Cred.) 178

|Carol Haley

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Cardston-Taber-Warner

|Broyce Jacobs 3,753

|Paula Shimp 783

|Luann Bannister 185

|Paul Hinman 3,884

|Lindsay Ferguson 225

|Broyce Jacobs

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Cypress-Medicine Hat

|Leonard Mitzel 4,623

|Stuart Angle 2,234

|Cliff Anten 345

|Dan H. Pierson 651

|Eric Solberg (Soc. Cred.) 561

|Lorne Taylor

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Highwood

|George Groeneveld 6,782

|Lori Czerwinski 1,843

|Catherine Whelan Costen 432

|Brian Wickhorst 733

|Sheelagh Matthews 547

|Cory Morgan (Separation) 299

|Don Tannas

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Lethbridge-East

|Rod Fong 4,703

|Bridget Pastoor 5,340

|Gaye Metz 607

|Brian Stewart 1,472

|Erin Matthews 360

|Darren Popik (Soc. Cred.) 251

|vacant

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Lethbridge-West

|Clint Dunford 4,416

|Bal Boora 3,675

|Mark Sandilands 1,316

|Merle Terlesky 949

|Andrea Sheridan 368

|Scott Sawatsky (Soc. Cred.) 357

|Clint Dunford

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Little Bow

|Barry McFarland 4,894

|Arij Langstraat 1,965

|Hugh Logie 327

|Jay Phin 859

|Brian Cook (Soc. Cred.) 556 Grant Shaw (Separation) 432

|Barry McFarland

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Livingstone-Macleod

|David Coutts 5,095

|Craig Whitehead 2,030

|Joyce Thomas 626

|George Lyster 1,493

|Chris Watts 468

|Jim Walker (Separation) 339

|David Coutts

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Medicine Hat

|Rob Renner 5,392

|Karen Charlton 3,482

|Diana Arnott 560

|Scott Cowan 1,073

|Jonathan Lorentzen (Soc. Cred.) 246

|Rob Renner

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Strathmore-Brooks

|Lyle Oberg 6,051

|Carol Jacques 1,055

|Don MacFarlane 405

|Mark D. Ogden 852

|Jay Kolody (Separation) 559 Rudy Martens (Soc. Cred.) 313

|Lyle Oberg

Suburban Calgary

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Calgary-Bow

|Alana DeLong 6,097

|Kelly McDonnell 3,509

|Jennifer Banks 1,135

|James Istvanffy 1,015

|Marie Picken 713

| Margaret Askin (Independent) 98 Doug Picken (Soc. Cred.) 97

|Alana DeLong

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Calgary-Cross

|Yvonne Fritz 3,763

|Raleigh DeHaney 1,452

|Jeanie Keebler 391

|Gordon Huth 648

|Ryan Richardson 271

|Yvonne Fritz

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Calgary-Foothills

|Len Webber 5,820

|Stephen Jenuth 3,559

|Malcolm Forster 407

|Vincent S. Jansen-Van Doorn 472

|Pat Nelson

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Calgary-Fort

|Wayne Cao 4,136

|Gerry Hart 1,784

|Elizabeth Thomas 583

|Travis Chase 589

|Tyler Charkie 440

|Leo Ollenberger (Separation) 212

|Wayne Cao

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Calgary-Hays

|Arthur Johnston 5,529

|Sharon Howe 1,952

|Rachel Weinfeld 298

|Robert Wawrzynowski 534

|Bernie Amell 378

|colspan=2|new district

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Calgary-Lougheed

|David Rodney 6,334

|Allan Pollock 2,971

|Matthew Koczkur 365

|Tariq Khan 445

|Ryan Boucher 471

|Marlene Graham

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Calgary-Mackay

|Gary Mar 5,640

|Darryl Hawkins 2,615

|Giorgio Cattabeni 395

|Shawn Hubbard 640

|David McTavish 443

|Paul Martin (Independent) 193

|Gary Mar

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Calgary-McCall

|Shiraz Shariff 3,203

|Darshan Kang 2,958

|Gurpreet (Preet) Sihota 264

|Ina Givens 573

|Sean Robert Brocklesby 359

|Shiraz Shariff

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Calgary-Montrose

|Hung Pham 3,318

|Arthur Danielson 1,651

|Jason Nishiyama 434

|Cyril Collingwood 674

|Kevin Colton 355

|Hung Pham

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Calgary-North West

|Greg Melchin 7,768

|Judy Stewart 4,488

|Bob Brunet 518

|Jenell Friesen 622

|Jeffrey Krekoski 636

|Greg Melchin

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Calgary-Shaw

|Cindy Ady 6,732

|John Roggeveen 2,373

|Jarrett Young 300

|Barry Chase 620

|Rick Papineau 380

|Daniel Doherty (Separation) 171

|Cindy Ady

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Calgary-West

|Ron Liepert 6,964

|Derek Smith 4,286

|Chantelle Dubois 434

|John Keyes 988

|James Kohut 732

|Karen Kryczka

Central Calgary

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Calgary-Buffalo

|Harvey Cenaiko 3,370

|Terry Taylor 2,777

|Cliff Hesby 455

|Nadine Hunka 290

|Grant Neufeld 656

|Elizabeth Kaur Fielding (Soc. Cred.) 71 Carl Schwartz (Alberta Pty.) 58

|Harvey Cenaiko

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Calgary-Currie

|Jon Lord 4,413

|Dave Taylor 4,984

|Robert Scobel 468

|Ken Mazeroll 348

|Kim Warnke 810

|Jon Lord

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Calgary-East

|Moe Amery 4,492

|Bill Harvey 2,359

|Paul Vargis 461

|Brad Berard 605

|Rick Michalenko 367

|Bonnie-Jean Collins (Communist) 56

|Moe Amery

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Calgary-Egmont

|Denis Herard 5,691

|Michael Queenan 2,371

|Christopher Dovey 599

|David Crutcher 1,657

|George Read 914

|Denis Herard

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Calgary-Elbow

|Ralph Klein 6,968

|Stephen Brown 4,934

|Becky Kelley 343

|Diana-Lynn Brooks 485

|Allison Roth 666

|Trevor Grover (Soc. Cred.) 68 Lloyd Blimke (Ind.) 51

|Ralph Klein

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Calgary-Fish Creek

|Heather Forsyth 6,829

|Tore Badenduck 2,801

|Eric Leavitt 794

|Mike Kuipers 780

|Chris Sealy 561

|Heather Forsyth

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Calgary-Glenmore

|Ron Stevens 6,257

|Avalon Roberts 4,360

|Holly Heffernan 550

|Ernest McCutcheon 572

|Evan Sklarski 531

|Larry R. Heather (Soc. Cred.) 135

|Ron Stevens

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Calgary-Mountain View

|Mark Hlady 4,058

|David Swann 7,155

|John Donovan 711

|Ryan Cassell 589

|Mark MacGillivray 912

|Mark Hlady

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Calgary-North Hill

|Richard Magnus 4,384

|Pat Murray 3,223

|Aileen L. Machell 630

|Brent Best 627

|Susan Stratton 1,264

|Richard Magnus

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Calgary-Nose Hill

|Neil Brown 4,369

|Len Borowski 2,605

|Dirk Huysman 552

|Bill McGregor 1,073

|John Johnson 584

|Raymond Hurst (Soc. Cred.) 163

|colspan="2"|new district

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Calgary-Varsity

|Michael W. Smyth 5,585

|Harry B. Chase 6,303

|Mark Gabruch 625

|Ron Beninger 763

|Richard Larson 753

|Len Skowronski (Soc. Cred.) 118

|Murray Smith

Electoral re-distribution

Alberta's electoral laws fix the number of legislature seats at 83. As a result of the Alberta Electoral Boundary Re-distribution, 2004, Calgary gained two seats. Edmonton lost one seat, and one "special consideration" division was eliminated. Dunvegan-Central Peace is the sole remaining "special" division - due to its isolation, it is allowed to have a population below 75% of the provincial average. Lesser Slave Lake is now considered to be a standard rural division as its boundaries were re-drawn so that its population is slightly above 75% of the provincial average. One urbanized division outside Calgary and Edmonton was added, and two rural seats were eliminated.

Political parties

For this election, there were 11 political parties registered with Elections Alberta.

Parties that elected MLAs in the previous election

The parties are listed in descending order of number of MLAs elected in 2001.

Progressive Conservative Party

Leader: Ralph Klein

In the 2001 election, the Progressive Conservatives recorded a result that was comparable to those achieved in their years of dominance under Peter Lougheed. The Tories received 627,252 out of 1,013,152 votes cast and won 74 seats, gaining 11 seats over and above their 1997 result at the expense of the Liberals. This result was achieved due to a resurgence of the party in Edmonton, where the Tories won a majority of seats for the first time since 1982. Premier Ralph Klein easily retained his Calgary-Elbow seat.

On April 8, 2002, Doug Griffiths retained the Tories' seat in Wainwright in the only by-election held since the 2001 election, albeit with a substantially reduced plurality. The Tories lost only one seat since the 2001 election, after Edmonton-Norwood MLA Gary Masyk crossed the floor to join the Alberta Alliance. As expected, the Tories nominated a full slate of candidates for the 2004 election.

External link

Liberal Party

Leader: Kevin Taft

The 2001 election was generally regarded to be as a disaster for the Liberals. Although the Liberals retained Official Opposition status and received 276,854 votes, the party lost 11 seats to the Tories and won only seven seats, six of them in Edmonton. Leader Nancy Macbeth even lost her own seat in Edmonton-McClung - she resigned days after the election and was replaced by Ken Nicol, the Opposition's sole representative outside the capital.

Nicol eventually resigned as MLA for Lethbridge East and as Leader of the Opposition to run (unsuccessfully) for the Liberals in the federal election, as did Edmonton-Ellerslie MLA Debby Carlson. These seats remained vacant through dissolution. The Liberals were led in the 2004 election by Edmonton-Riverview MLA Kevin Taft, who was elected to the position in March 2004. The Liberals had 82 candidates in the 2004 election - they were absent from the ballot in Drumheller-Stettler after failing to file papers for their expected candidate, Don McMann before the deadline.

External link

New Democratic Party

Leader: Brian Mason

In 2001, the New Democrats were unable to claim Official Opposition status from the floundering Liberals, but Leader Raj Pannu managed to hold the party's two existing seats—Pannu's own in Edmonton—Strathcona and Brian Mason's seat in Edmonton Highlands (later merged into Edmonton Highlands-Norwood). The "NDs", as they were then known, received 81,339 votes. Pannu resigned the leadership in July 2004, with Mason filling the role of interim leader before being elected to that position in September 2004. The party has also ceased abbreviating its name as "ND in favour of the more traditional "NDP" abbreviation. The NDP nominated a full slate of candidates for the 2004 election.

External link

Other registered parties

The parties are listed in descending order of number of candidates nominated in 2004.

Alberta Alliance

Leader: Randy Thorsteinson

The Alberta Alliance was registered in October 2002 and held its founding convention in February 2003. Its leader, Randy Thorsteinson had led Social Credit through a modest rebirth before quitting that party in April 1999. The party's sole MLA, Gary Masyk (Edmonton-Norwood) crossed the floor from the governing Progressive Conservatives on June 29, 2004. The Alliance nominated a full slate of candidates for the 2004 election, the only other party besides the Tories and the NDP to do so.

External link

Greens

Leader: George Read

Also known as the "Green Party of Alberta", the Alberta Greens ran 10 candidates in the 2001 election, who combined for 2,850 votes. In the 2004 election, the Greens nominated 49 candidates - more than 4 times the highest number of candidates they had previously run in an election.

External link

Leader: Lavern Ahlstrom

Prior to the 2001 election, the Social Credit Party was in turmoil following the departure of party leader Randy Thorsteinson. Under Lavern Ahlstrom, the party nominated 12 candidates in the 2001 election (down from 70 in 1997), and received 5,361 votes (down from 64,667). The party had 42 candidates for the 2004 election.

External link

Separation Party

Interim Leader: Bruce Hutton

The Separation Party of Alberta was founded in June 2004 taking over the rights of the Alberta First Party. Bruce Hutton became interim leader. As a separatist party, it is the separatist successor to the Alberta Independence Party, which ran some independent candidates in the 2001 election, but never achieved official party status. The separatist cause was first taken up by the Western Canada Concept in the early 1980s when Gordon Kesler won a by-election. The Separation Party had 12 candidates in the 2004 election. See Alberta separatism.

External Link

Alberta Party

Leader: Bruce Stubbs

The Alberta Party did not nominate any candidates in 2001, but nominated four candidates for the 2004 election.

External Link

Communist Party

Leader: Naomi Rankin

The Communist Party nominated two candidates in the 2001 election, who combined for 117 votes. They ran two candidates in the 2004 election.

The Equity Party

Leader: Emil van der Poorten

The Equity Party ran no candidates in this election, The party was de-registered after the Alberta government amended the Elections Act to force a party to run at least one candidate, the party failed to field a candidate and was de-registered.

Reform Party

Leader: David Salmon

The Alberta Party, Equity Party and the Reform Party did not run any candidates in the 2001 election. The Equity Party and Reform Party were also absent from the ballot in 2004. The party was de-registered after the Alberta government amended the Elections Act to force a party to run at least one candidate, the party failed to field a candidate and was de-registered.

De-registered parties

The Natural Law Party of Alberta was de-registered by Elections Alberta in 2001, after they stopped filing financial statements. In 2001 The Natural Law Party did not nominate any candidates.

Independent candidates

29 independent candidates ran in the 2001 election. These candidates won a total of 10,528 votes. 10 independents ran in 2004.

Standings in the 25th Legislature

Standings after the 25th general election

{| class="wikitable" border=1

!Political party

!Calgary

!Edmonton

!Urbanized

!Rural

!Special

!Total

|Progressive Conservative

|21

|11

|20

|74

|Liberal

|New Democrat

|Totals

|21

|19

|21

|20

|83

Standings at dissolution

{| class="wikitable" border=1

!Political party

!Calgary

!Edmonton

!Urbanized

!Rural

!Special

!Total

|Progressive Conservative

|21

|10

|20

|73

|Liberal

|New Democrat

|Alberta Alliance

|Vacant

|Totals

|21

|19

|21

|20

|83

Timeline

March 27, 2004 - Kevin Taft becomes leader of the Alberta Liberals.

June 29, 2004 - Gary Masyk crosses the floor from the Progressive Conservatives to the Alberta Alliance.

July 13, 2004 - Raj Pannu resigns as leader of the Alberta New Democrats. Brian Mason is appointed interim leader.

September 9, 2004 - Alberta Alliance kicked off five-city "I Blame Ralph" tour in Edmonton. Ralph Klein announces Senate Election

September 18, 2004 - Brian Mason formally becomes leader of the Alberta New Democrats.

October 25, 2004 - At the request of Premier Ralph Klein, Lieutenant-Governor Lois Hole dissolves the legislature and sets the election day for November 22.

October 28, 2004 - Premier Klein is harshly criticized by opposition parties and activist groups after he claims that protestors on Alberta's Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH) who had heckled him did not look severely disabled.

October 31, 2004 - Premier Klein's mother, Florence Gray dies at the age of 80 following a year-long illness. All major parties announce they will suspend their provincial campaigns while the premier mourns.

November 4, 2004 - Global Television Network re-iterates that they will not invite Alberta Alliance leader Randy Thorsteinson to their leaders debate, because his party did not elect any members in the previous election and their sole MLA crossed the floor. The decision sparks anger amongst Alliance members and even disappoints the other three leaders.

November 8, 2004 - Close of nomination's and the Global television leaders debate involving Klein, Taft and Mason.

November 13, 2004 - NDP leader Mason releases a brochure entitled Health Care for Dummies in an effort to mock the premier's reluctance to discuss health care in detail during the campaign.

November 18, 2004 - Advance polling stations open.

November 19, 2004, - Advance polling stations open, and Students across the province vote in Alberta Student Vote, 2004.

November 20, 2004 - Advance polling stations open.

November 22, 2004 - Voting day for the 26th Alberta general election.

8:00 p.m. local time: Polls close (03:00, November 23 UTC)
8:36 p.m.: CBC projects a PC majority (03:36, November 23 UTC)

December 9, 2004 - The Court of Queen's Bench rules that Chris Kibermanis (Lib.) won the election in Edmonton Castle Downs by three votes, upholding the result of the initial, election-night result. The PC candidate, Thomas Lukaszuk, appealed to the Court of Appeal of Alberta.

January 24, 2005 - The Alberta Court of Appeal rules that Lukaszuk won the election in Edmonton Castle Downs by three votes, overturning the result of the first vote-count, which had given the seat to Kibermanis of the Liberals. Kibermanis accepted defeat and did not appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Opinion polls

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;font-size:85%;line-height:14px;" align="center"

|+ Evolution of voting intentions at provincial level

! rowspan="2" | Polling firm

! rowspan="2" |Last day of survey

! rowspan="2" | Source

! class="unsortable" style="width:40px;"| PCA

! class="unsortable" style="width:40px;"| ALP

! class="unsortable" style="width:40px;"| ANDP

! class="unsortable" style="width:40px;"| AAP

! class="unsortable" style="width:40px;"| AG

! class="unsortable" style="width:40px;"| ASC

! class="unsortable" style="width:40px;"| SPA

! class="unsortable" style="width:40px;"| Other

! rowspan="2" | Undecided

! rowspan="2" |

! rowspan="2" | Sample

|- style="line-height:5px;"

! style="background:;" data-sort-type="number"|

| style="background:#ffd;" |Election 2004

| style="background:#ffd;" |November 22, 2004

| style="background:#ffd;" |

| style="background:#ffd;" |46.8

| style="background:#ffd;" |29.4

| style="background:#ffd;" |10.2

| style="background:#ffd;" |8.7

| style="background:#ffd;" |2.8

| style="background:#ffd;" |1.2

| style="background:#ffd;" |0.5

| style="background:#ffd;" |0.4

| style="background:#ffd;" |

|COMPAS

|November 4, 2004

|style="background:#9999FF"|61

|19

|16

|Ipsos-Reid

|October 26, 2004

|style="background:#9999FF"|50

|26

|10

|style="background:#9999FF"|50

|22

|13

|10

|Ipsos-Reid

|January 28, 2003

|style="background:#9999FF"|50

|24

|15

|Ipsos-Reid

|March 25, 2002

|style="background:#9999FF"|50

|31

|11

| style="background:#ffd;" |Election 2001

| style="background:#ffd;" |March 12, 2001

| style="background:#ffd;" |

| style="background:#ffd;" |61.9

| style="background:#ffd;" |27.3

| style="background:#ffd;" |8.0

| style="background:#ffd;" |—

| style="background:#ffd;" |0.3

| style="background:#ffd;" |0.5

| style="background:#ffd;" |0.9

| style="background:#ffd;" |1.6

| style="background:#ffd;" |

Ipsos-Reid, 2004-10-29: PC 50%, Lib 26%, NDP 10%, AAP 9%, Green 4%
COMPAS Inc. / Calgary Herald, 2004-11-03, 2004-11-04: PC 61%, Lib 19%, NDP 16%, Green 3%, Separation 1%, Other 1%. The pollsters only prompted for the three "major" parties yet Green and Separation showed up over 1% in the results while the Alliance, which is contesting every riding and holds a seat in the legislature, did not. [http://www.compas.ca/data/041108-2004AlbertaElection-E.pdf]
Cameron Strategy Inc. / Global News / Calgary Herald, 2004-11-08-11-16: PC 47%, Lib 21%, NDP 11%, AAP 9%, Green 5%
Ipsos-Reid, 2004-11-12 to 2004-11-17: PC 44%, Lib 29%, NDP 12%, AAP 9%, Green 4% (800 adults, MoE 3.5%)

Works cited

References

Bibliography

External links

Elections Alberta
Alberta Legislative Assembly
Final Report of the Alberta Electoral Boundaries Commission
Riding maps (2003 representation)
Official Results of the 2004 Election

Media coverage

CBC Coverage: Alberta Votes 2004

Electoral System

Election night summary

Results by region

Results by riding

Results by riding

Northern Alberta

Western and Central Alberta

East Central Alberta

Central Edmonton

Suburban Edmonton and Environs

Southern Alberta

Suburban Calgary

Central Calgary

Electoral re-distribution

Political parties

Parties that elected MLAs in the previous election

Progressive Conservative Party

Liberal Party

New Democratic Party

Other registered parties

Alberta Alliance

Greens

Social Credit Party

Separation Party

Alberta Party

Communist Party

The Equity Party

Reform Party

De-registered parties

Independent candidates

Standings in the 25th Legislature

Standings after the 25th general election

Standings at dissolution

Timeline

Opinion polls

Works cited

References

Bibliography

Further reading

External links

Media coverage