By-elections to the 28th Alberta Legislature
By-elections to the 28th Alberta Legislature have been held to fill vacancies in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta between the 2012 election and the 2015 election. Four by-elections were held to fill vacancies in the 28th Alberta Legislature, all in October of 2014.
The by-elections were called by incoming premier Jim Prentice, who had been elected as the leader of the Alberta Progressive Conservatives on September 6th, 2014. He subsequently appointed a new cabinet, which included two ministers who did not hold seats in the legislature. All four seats were open after the incumbent members resigned, and all resulted in holds for the Progressive Conservatives. One returned a Progressive Conservative member, when the incumbent was an independent, but he had been elected as a PC as well.[1]
Calgary-West
The riding of Calgary-West was vacated by incumbent MLA Ken Hughes in late September, 2014, after he failed to win the leadership contest for the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta. The contest was instead won by Jim Prentice, who had been sworn in as premier earlier in that month.
The Progressive Conservative candidate, former police sergeant Mike Ellis won a narrow victory over Wildrose candidate Sheila Taylor. Taylor had resigned from the Calgary Public School Board in order to stand as a candidate in the by-election. This riding was one which the Wildrose expected to gain, given their dominance of the opinion polls under former premiers Dave Hancock and Alison Redford, but their candidate was defeated by a small margin.[2] This result was consistent with province-wide opinion polling at the time, which saw a surge in support for the Progressive Conservatives under Prentice since he was elected as the party leader.[3][4]
The New Democrat candidate Brian Malkinson, who placed fourth in the 2014 Calgary-West by-election, went on to win the 2015 general election in the riding of Calgary-Currie less than a year later.
Calgary-West electoral result
| Alberta provincial by-election, October 27, 2014: Calgary-West Resignation of Ken Hughes on September 26, 2014 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Mike Ellis | 4,836 | 44.29 | −5.56 | ||||
| Wildrose | Sheila Taylor | 4,530 | 41.58 | +4.25 | ||||
| Liberal | David Khan | 927 | 8.51 | +1.05 | ||||
| New Democratic | Brian Malkinson | 337 | 3.09 | +0.08 | ||||
| Alberta Party | Troy Millington | 264 | 2.42 | +1.45 | ||||
| Total | 10,894 | — | — | |||||
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | 17 | 7 | 1 | |||||
| Eligible electors / turnout | 30,541 | 35.73 | — | |||||
| Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | − | ||||||
Source(s)
Alberta. Chief Electoral Officer (2015). Report on the October 27, 2014 By-elections in: Calgary-Elbow, Calgary-Foothills, Calgary-West, Edmonton-Whitemud (PDF) (Report). Edmonton: Legislative Assembly of Alberta; Chief Electoral Officer. ISBN 978-098653678-6. Retrieved April 20, 2021. | ||||||||
Calgary-Foothills
The riding of Calgary-Foothills was previously held by independent MLA Len Webber since the 2004 election. He had previously served within the Progressive Conservative caucus, but sat as an independent in protest of incumbent premier Alison Redford's leadership.[5] Webber resigned on September 29th, 2014, in order to stand as a candidate for the Conservative Party of Canada in the 2015 federal election in the riding of Calgary-Confederation, thus vacating the seat and allowing Jim Prentice to stand for election in that riding. This was the second of four ridings contested on the October 27th by-elections, and resulted in a Progressive Conservative hold.
Calgary-Foothills electoral result
| Alberta provincial by-election, October 27, 2014: Calgary-Foothills Resignation of Len Webber on September 28, 2014 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Jim Prentice | 6,912 | 58.37 | +4.71 | ||||
| Wildrose | Kathy Macdonald | 3,545 | 29.94 | -3.46 | ||||
| Liberal | Robert Prcic | 458 | 3.87 | -5.33 | ||||
| New Democratic | Jennifer Burgess | 444 | 3.75 | -0.01 | ||||
| Green | Polly Knowlton Cockett | 248 | 2.09 | — | ||||
| Alberta Party | Michelle Glavine | 212 | 1.79 | — | ||||
| Independent | Dave Woody Phillips | 23 | 0.19 | — | ||||
| Total | 11,842 | — | — | |||||
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | 14 | 33 | 19 | |||||
| Eligible electors / turnout | 32,743 | 36.27 | — | |||||
| Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | +4.72 | ||||||
Source(s)
Alberta. Chief Electoral Officer (2015). Report on the October 27, 2014 By-elections in: Calgary-Elbow, Calgary-Foothills, Calgary-West, Edmonton-Whitemud (PDF) (Report). Edmonton: Legislative Assembly of Alberta; Chief Electoral Officer. ISBN 978-098653678-6. Retrieved April 20, 2021. | ||||||||
Edmonton-Whitemud
Calgary-Elbow
References
- ^ Boushy, David (Oct 29, 2014). "Alberta PCs sweep byelections; win all four seats". Global News. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
- ^ "Alberta byelections swept by Jim Prentice's Progressive Conservative Party". CBC News. Oct 27, 2014. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
- ^ Southwick, Reid (December 22, 2014). "Poll shows Tory surge, public opposition to Wildrose defections". Calgary Herald. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
- ^ Grenier, Eric. "Tight race in Alberta in new polls as by-elections loom". ThreeHundredEight. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
- ^ Wood, James (March 12, 2014). "MLA won't remain a Tory 'with her as leader of the party'". Calgary Herald. Retrieved March 13, 2014.
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