2008 Alberta general election

2008 Alberta general election

March 3, 2008 (2008-03-03)
83 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta 42 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout	40.59%
Majority party Minority party   Leader Ed Stelmach Kevin Taft Party Progressive Conservative Liberal Leader since December 2, 2006 March 27, 2004 Leader's seat Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville Edmonton-Riverview Last election 62 seats, 46.8% 16 seats, 29.4% Seats before 60 16 Seats won 72 9 Seat change 12 7 Popular vote 501,063 251,158 Percentage 52.7% 26.4% Swing 5.9pp 3.0pp   Third party Fourth party   Leader Brian Mason Paul Hinman Party New Democratic Wildrose Alliance Leader since July 13, 2004 2008 Leader's seat Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood Cardston-Taber-Warner (lost re-election) Last election 4 seats, 10.2% 1 seats, 8.7% Seats before 4 1 Seats won 2 0 Seat change 2 1 Popular vote 80,578 64,407 Percentage 8.5% 6.8% Swing 1.7pp 1.9pp
Popular vote by riding. As this is a first-past-the-post election, seat totals are not determined by total popular vote, but instead by results in each riding.
Premier before election Ed Stelmach Progressive Conservative Premier after election Ed Stelmach Progressive Conservative

The 2008 Alberta general election was held on March 3, 2008, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.

It was expected to be called early because the governing Progressive Conservatives held a leadership election on December 2, 2006, in which Ed Stelmach was elected to replace Ralph Klein as party leader and Premier. The election was called when Stelmach formally advised Lieutenant Governor Norman Kwong to dissolve the Legislature, which happened on February 4, 2008.^[1]

With 53% of the popular vote, the Progressive Conservatives won a decisive majority over the Liberal and other parties, despite early suggestions of a closer race.^{[citation needed]}

The 2008 election had the lowest voter turnout in the province's history, with only 40.59% of eligible voters casting a ballot.^[2]

Results

The Progressive Conservatives increased their majority at the expense of all other parties in the legislature. The Tories also increased their share of the popular vote, and even though their share of the vote was still significantly less than it was in 2001, they managed to win just two fewer seats than they won in that election. This was largely a result of their continued widespread support in rural areas, as well as divided opposition support in Calgary and Edmonton. The Conservative gains came mostly in and around Edmonton, where the party recorded its best results since 1982.

The Liberals held on to official opposition status but sustained a net loss of seven seats. Bucking historic trends, the party was reduced to only three seats in Edmonton, but was able to win five seats in Calgary (a net gain of one seat and the largest total won by that party in that city in the past 50 years). The Liberals also held their existing seat in Lethbridge to win a total of nine seats.

The other parties that were represented in the legislature also suffered losses on election night. The New Democrats lost two of their four Edmonton seats, and the Wildrose Alliance Party was shut out of the legislature as their leader Paul Hinman was narrowly defeated in his own constituency of Cardston-Taber-Warner.

For the first time in history, a majority of the Liberal caucus were from Calgary and the combined number of Liberal and NDP MLAs from Edmonton did not exceed the number of those two parties' MLAs from Calgary.

Summary

Summary of the March 3, 2008 Legislative Assembly of Alberta election results

Party		Party leader	Number of candidates	Seats				Popular vote
				2004	Dissol.	2008	% Change	#	%	Change (pp)
	Progressive Conservative	Ed Stelmach	83	62^1	60	72	+20%	501,063	52.72	+5.92%
	Liberal	Kevin Taft	82	16^1	16	9	-43.8%	251,158	26.43	-2.96%
	New Democratic	Brian Mason	83	4	4	2	-50%	80,578	8.48	-1.72%
	Wildrose Alliance	Paul Hinman	61	1	1	-	-100%	64,407	6.78	-1.92%^2
	Greens	George Read	79	-	-	-	-	43,222	4.55	+1.80%
	Independent		7	-	1	-	-100%	7,635	0.80	+0.69%
	Social Credit	Len Skowronski	8	-	-	-	-	2,043	0.21	-1.02%
	Separation	Bruce Hutton	1	-	-	-	-	119	0.01	-0.52%
	Communist	Naomi Rankin	2	-	-	-	-	96	0.01	xx
	Alberta Party	Bruce Stubbs	1	-	-	-	-	42	0.00	-0.28%
	Vacant				1
Total			407	83	83	83	-	950,363	100.00

Notes:

• ¹ Liberal Chris Kibermanis originally had a five-vote margin over Progressive Conservative Thomas Lukaszuk. A judicial recount on January 24, 2005, determined Thomas Lukaszuk the winner.
• ² Results change is compared to the Alberta Alliance in 2004.

Vote and seat summaries

Popular vote PC   52.72% Liberal   26.43% NDP   8.48% Wild Rose Alliance   6.78% Green   4.55% Independents   0.80% Others   0.23%

Seat totals PC   86.7% Liberal   10.8% NDP   2.4%

Policy and other major announcements

Alberta Liberal Party

Map of election results

• Immediate elimination of health care premiums
• Increasing per capita spending on policy in Calgary from $16 to $20
• Re-legislation of tuition policy so it is made in open session
• Implementation of a public pharmacare program
• Using tobacco taxes, spend approximately $200 million to create a Community Wellness Fund which will seek to expand Family & Community Support Services and fund healthy living and lifestyle programs
• Redirect the $250 million Natural Gas Rebate Program towards incentives for energy efficiency
• Triple funding for the Alberta Foundation for the Arts
• Increase the number of health care workers
• Investment of 30% of all natural resource revenues in:

1. investment in the Heritage Fund so that income taxes can remain permanently low
2. elimination of the infrastructure deficit by 2014
3. establishment of an uncapped endowment for post-secondary education
4. establishment of a $500 million endowment fund for arts, social sciences, and humanities

• Elimination of the education section of the property tax for seniors (approx. $700 a year)
• Increasing the tax credit for seniors' caregivers to $9,355 from $4,355.
• Making both Calgary and Edmonton into independent cities via a "Big Cities" Charter
• Hiring 300 more police officers for Calgary and Edmonton
• Fixed election dates

Cost: Net costs are zero as a result of re-allocating existing dollars and increased royalty revenues.

New Democratic Party of Alberta

• Making life affordable
  • Create 4,000 new child care spaces.
  • Cap rates of $25/day ($500/month) for infant care and $9/day ($180/month) for after school care.
  • Regulate after-school care for children.
  • Increase start-up grants for daycare centres and day homes.
  • Provide additional sustainable grants to day cares to increase wages for childcare workers.
  • Introduce rent controls.
  • Introduce limits on condominium conversions.
• Full value royalties
  • Follow example set by Alaska and replace the royalty system.
  • Create an all-party, special committee of the legislature to investigate royalties and report back in three months.
  • Add a variable royalty structure that would increase the royalty revenues when oil prices pass a peak threshold.
  • Increase royalties on other non-renewable resources such as coal.
• Green energy plan
  • Create a green energy fund that will receive $2 billion a year primarily through enhanced royalties. Use that money to fund energy efficient retro-fitting and alternative energy production systems for individual houses and building.
  • Fund alternative power generation projects such as solar and wind farms.
  • Place hard caps on greenhouse gas emissions with penalties for companies that exceed targets — details to be worked out later.
  • Slow down the pace of development
• Big dollar signs out of politics
  • End campaign contributions from unions and corporations.
  • Table legislation binding all leadership and nomination contests to the same disclosure rules and donation limits of political parties.
• Immediately end health-care premiums.
• Create a new pharmaceutical agency to purchase drugs in bulk, negotiate prices with drug companies and find less costly options to brand-name drugs.
• Roll back tuition levels to 1999–2000 levels.
• Cap interest for student loans at prime.
• Invest $100 million in student housing immediately.
• Eliminate fees and fund-raising for learning essentials.
• Phase out funding for private schools.
• Hire 800 additional police officers
• Mandate basic value-added and upgrading for all bitumen mined in Alberta to be done in the province.
• Add an interim per barrel tax on all bitumen exported outside the province.
• Establish a bitumen pricing system.
• Start a public automobile insurance system.
• Provide stable funding for non-profit First Nation and Metis agencies.
• Tie AISH and social assistance rates to a market basket measure.
• Introduce $30 million in new funding for the Alberta Foundation for the Arts.

Cost: $477 million surplus, based on increased royalty rates, bitumen royalty premium and reverse corporate tax cuts.

Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta

• Elimination of health care premiums over four years
• Increase the number of health care workers
• Construct 18 new schools in Calgary and Edmonton, including health focused schools
• $6 billion a year to build and improve urban transit, highways, schools, parks and seniors facilities
• Tax credits to businesses and homeowners who renovate to utilize energy efficient appliances
• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 200 megatons by 2050
• Increase oil and gas revenue by $2 billion
• Introduce royalty that would increase with the price of oil
• Create a secretariat for action on homelessness
• Create a new cultural policy that includes recreation and sport along with arts and performance
• Double the tax credit for those supporting dependent family members

Cost: Total commitments represent 4.2 per cent of the budget for 2008–09 or $1.5 billion.

Wildrose Alliance Party of Alberta

• Immediately eliminate health care premiums
• Raise the basic personal income tax exemption to $20,000
• Cut the provincial corporate tax rate from 10% to 8%
• Allow income splitting for taxpayers who care for dependents in times of medical or other crisis
• Direct savings from slowing spending growth to the Heritage Fund so that personal income taxes can eventually be eliminated
• Allow governance and service delivery at the municipal and community levels as much as possible
• As part of the party's universal health care plan, implement a pilot program in one of the smaller health regions that will be modelled after funding following the patients rather than the per capita funding currently in place today. Similarly, establish a school choice voucher pilot.
• Provide significant debt relief to Alberta-trained medical professionals who commit to practising in the province at least five years
• Establish fixed election dates, allow for citizen initiatives via referendums, and enact the right to recall elected officials

Costs: Cost of promises not released.

Alberta Greens

George Read, Leader of the Alberta Greens during the 2008 general election

• Green tax shift (i.e. lower income and business taxes in exchange for higher resource taxes)
• Community-based development
• Balanced budgets and fiscal responsibility
• Recovery of waste energy through co-generation
• Assessing royalty waste on a reservoir by reservoir basis
• Provide low interest loans to businesses for energy retrofits
• Provide no interest loans to homes for energy conservation
• Ban the use of cosmetic pesticides
• Increase spending in the Child Welfare Department
• Pass a Protected Lands Act that will clarify different land uses. The act will include:

1. Increase land designated as protected
2. Protect the Yellowstone to Yukon (Y2Y) corridor
3. Authority and resources to enforce the legislation for protected areas officers

• Increasing the supply of affordable housing

1. More housing cooperatives and co-housing type developments
2. Ensuring units are maintained by organizations that have a vested interest in sustaining them

• Working with the municipalities to make urban development plans that preserve farmland
• Investing in public transit
• Ensuring a continued supply of fresh water

Leader's statement

Results by region

Party name			Cgy.	Edm.^1	Leth.	R.D.	North	Central	South	Total
	Progressive Conservative	Seats:	18	13	1	2	10	20	8	72
		Popular vote:	45.81%	42.74%	46.16%	55.46%	65.83%	65.13%	60.85%	52.66%
	Liberal	Seats:	5	3	1	0	0	0	0	9
		Popular vote:	33.90%	33.47%	34.34%	25.30%	13.95%	16.60%	15.75%	26.37%
	New Democrats	Seats:	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	2
		Popular vote:	4.21%	18.01%	8.87%	5.79%	11.00%	5.59%	3.74%	8.52%
Total seats:			23	18	2	2	10	20	8	83
Parties that won no seats:
	Wildrose Alliance	Popular vote:	8.96%	1.51%	7.61%	7.74%	5.65%	5.86%	16.02%	6.77%
	Greens	Popular vote:	4.87%	3.16%	3.02%	5.71%	3.19%	6.12%	3.63%	4.58%
	Social Credit	Popular vote:	0.20%	0.06%	xx	xx	0.39%	0.54%	xx	0.22%
	Separation	Popular Vote:	xx	xx	xx	xx	xx	0.05%	xx	0.01%
	Communist	Popular vote:	0.02%	0.02%	xx	xx	xx	xx	xx	0.01%
	Alberta Party	Popular vote:	xx	0.02%	xx	xx	xx	xx	xx	0.01%
	Independents	Popular vote:	2.04%	0.96%	xx	xx	xx	0.12%	xx	0.87%

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.

Opinion polls

Polling Firm	Last Date of Polling	Link	Prog. Cons.	Liberal	New Democratic	Alliance	Greens
Election results	March 3, 2008		53%	26%	9%	7%	5%
Angus Reid Strategies	February 29, 2008	[1]	43%	28%	13%	10%	7%
Strategic Counsel	February 28, 2008	[2]	50%	25%	8%	10%	8%
Leger Marketing	February 25, 2008	[3]	55%	24%	7%	8%	6%
Angus Reid Strategies	February 20, 2008	[4]	42%	31%	9%	10%	8%
Ipsos-Reid	February 17, 2008	[5]	49%	28%	14%	5%	4%
Environics	February 7, 2008	[6]	52%	25%	10%	6%	7%
Leger Marketing	January 24, 2008	[7]	49%	28%	11%	5%	8%
Strategic Counsel	January 13, 2008	[8]	58%	19%	9%	5%	9%
Last election	22 November 2004		48.8%	29.4%	10.2%	8.7%	2.8%

Target ridings

The following is a list of ridings that were narrowly lost by the indicated party in the 2004 election. For instance, under the Liberal column are the nine seats in which they came closest to winning but did not. Listed is the name of the riding, followed by the party which was victorious (in parentheses) and the margin, in terms of percentage of the vote, by which the party lost.

These ridings were likely targeted by the specified party because the party lost them by a very slim margin in the 2004 election.

Up to ten are shown, with a maximum margin of victory of 15%.

* Indicates incumbent not running again.

Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta	Alberta Liberal Party
Cardston-Taber-Warner, (WA) 1.5% Edmonton-Meadowlark, (Lib) 1.8% Edmonton-Ellerslie, (Lib) 2.0% Edmonton-Manning, (Lib) 2.6% St. Albert, (Lib) 2.7% Edmonton-Calder, (NDP) 3.0% Edmonton-McClung, (Lib) 4.1% Lethbridge-East, (Lib) 5.0% Calgary-Varsity, (Lib) 5.3% Calgary-Currie, (Lib) 5.7%	Edmonton-Castle Downs, (PC) <0.1% Calgary-McCall, (PC) 4.1% Spruce Grove-Sturgeon-St. Albert, (PC) 4.4% Edmonton-Whitemud, (PC) 5.7% Edmonton-Mill Creek, (PC) 6.5% Calgary-Buffalo, (PC) 7.7% Edmonton-Calder, (NDP) 9.6% Red Deer-South, (PC) 10.8% Sherwood Park, (PC) 11.2%
Alberta New Democratic Party	Wildrose Alliance Party
Edmonton-Glenora, (Lib) 4.2% Edmonton Ellerslie, (Lib) 11.7% Edmonton Manning, (Lib) 14.2%	Dunvegan-Central Peace, (PC) 4.1%

MLAs not running again

Liberal Maurice Tougas, Edmonton-Meadowlark NDP Raj Pannu, Edmonton-Strathcona

Progressive Conservative Tony Abbott, Drayton Valley-Calmar Mike Cardinal, Athabasca-Redwater Harvey Cenaiko, Calgary-Buffalo David Coutts, Livingstone-Macleod Victor Doerksen, Red Deer-South Denis Ducharme, Bonnyville-Cold Lake Clint Dunford, Lethbridge-West Gordon Graydon, Grande Prairie-Wapiti Carol Haley, Airdrie-Chestermere Denis Herard, Calgary-Egmont LeRoy Johnson, Wetaskiwin-Camrose Rob Lougheed, Strathcona Greg Melchin, Calgary-North West Richard Magnus, Calgary-North Hill Lyle Oberg, Strathmore-Brooks Hung Pham, Calgary-Montrose Ivan Strang, West Yellowhead Gary Mar, Calgary-Mackay

Timeline

• November 19, 2005 Paul Hinman, Cardston-Taber-Warner MLA is elected leader of the Alberta Alliance Party replacing Randy Thorsteinson at a leadership convention in Red Deer, Alberta.
• March 29, 2006 Premier Ralph Klein is given a 55% leadership review, he later announced his retirement for the fall of 2006.
• September 20, 2006 Premier Ralph Klein gives notice to the Progressive Conservatives, announces he will leave when a new leader is picked.
• November 23, 2006 Dan Backs is removed from the Liberal caucus and is forced to sit as an Independent
• December 15, 2006 Ed Stelmach replaces Ralph Klein as premier.
• January 15, 2007 Former Premier Ralph Klein and former Deputy Premier Shirley McClellan resign their legislature seats.
• June 12, 2007 By-elections are held in the seats vacated on January 15. While Jack Hayden easily holds the Drumheller-Stettler riding for the Progressive Conservatives, Craig Cheffins takes Premier Klein's old seat, Calgary Elbow, for the Liberals.[9]
• November 3, 2007 Len Skowronski is elected Leader of Social Credit replacing Lavern Ahlstrom
• December 3, 2007 Gary Mar resigns his seat of Calgary Mackay after he was appointed as Alberta's representative to Washington, D.C.
• January 19, 2008 The Wildrose Party of Alberta and the Alberta Alliance Party merge to form the Wildrose Alliance Party of Alberta.
• February 4, 2008 The writ is dropped.
• February 21, 2008 Stelmach, Taft, Mason, and Hinman square off in a leaders' debate.
• March 3, 2008, 8:22 p.m.: CTV Calgary declares a PC majority barely twenty minutes after the polls close. A CTV reporter asks Ed Stelmach about it, but the Premier has no real answer.
  • 8:29 p.m.: Less than half an hour after the polls close, and less than 25 minutes after the first polling station reports, CBC News declares a PC majority; Ed Stelmach begins a brief speech thanking party workers in Calgary while the CBC anchor is making the declaration.
  • 9:45 p.m.: Kevin Taft concedes victory. Despite the poor result, he announces his intention to remain party leader.
  • 10:36 p.m.: Ed Stelmach formally claims victory in Edmonton.

Nominated candidates

Party Seats Second Third Fourth   Progressive Conservative 72 11 0 0 Liberal 9 58 13 2   New Democratic Party 2 4 34 16   Wildrose Alliance 0 7 30 17 Greens 0 2 4 47   Independents 0 1 2 1

Party Average # of votes   Progressive Conservative 6,063 Liberal 3,059   Wildrose Alliance 1,055   New Democrat 976 Greens 551   Social Credit 256   Separation 120   Alberta Party 51   Communist 48

Names in bold indicate party leaders and cabinet ministers. ^[3]

Northern Alberta

Electoral district	Candidates												Incumbent
	PC		Liberal		NDP		Wildrose Alliance		Greens		Other
Athabasca-Redwater		Jeff Johnson 7,484 (67.99%)		Bill Bonko 1,379 (12.53%)		Peter Opryshko 1,225 (11.13%)		Mike Radojcic 517 (4.69%)		Phyllis Penchuk 403 (3.66%)				Mike Cardinal
Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock		Ken Kowalski 8,312 (70.26%)		Leslie Penny 1,804 (15.25%)		Rod Olstad 927 (7.83%)				Dan Evans 479 (4.05%)		Carl Haugen (SC) 309 (2.61%)		Ken Kowalski
Bonnyville-Cold Lake		Genia Leskiw 4,437 (75.54%)		Justin Yassoub 698 (11.88%)		Jason Sloychuk 389 (6.62%)				Jennifer Brown 350 (5.96%)				Denis Ducharme
Dunvegan-Central Peace		Hector Goudreau 4,147 (51.99%)		Bob Woken 288 (3.61%)		Nathan Macklin 1,202 (15.07%)		Dale Lueken 2,339 (29.33%)						Hector Goudreau
Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo		Guy Boutilier 4,519 (63.41%)		Ross Jacobs 1,758 (24.67%)		Mel Kraley 550 (7.72%)				Reginald (Reg) Normore 300 (4.21%)				Guy Boutilier
Grande Prairie Smoky		Mel Knight 4,769 (59.44%)		John Croken 1,089 (13.57%)		Neil Peacock 832 (10.37%)		Todd Loewen 1,049 (13.07%)		Rebecca Villebrun 285 (3.55%)				Mel Knight
Grande Prairie Wapiti		Wayne Drysdale 5,145 (66.70%)		Augustine Ebinu 1,304 (16.90%)		Manuella Campbell 829 (10.75%)				Art Proctor 436 (5.65%)				Gordon Graydon
Lac La Biche-St. Paul		Ray Danyluk 6,527 (71.28%)		Alex Broadbent 1,627 (17.77%)		Della Drury 1,003 (10.95%)								Ray Danyluk
Lesser Slave Lake		Pearl Calahasen 3,384 (65.18%)		Steve Noskey 1,109 (21.36%)		Habby Sharkawi 426 (8.20%)				Bonnie Raho 273 (5.26%)				Pearl Calahasen
Peace River		Frank Oberle 3,265 (64.63%)				Adele Boucher Rymhs 1,248 (24.70%)		Georg Beinart 539 (10.67%)						Frank Oberle

Western and Central Alberta

Electoral district	Candidates												Incumbent
	PC		Liberal		NDP		Wildrose Alliance		Greens		Other
Banff-Cochrane		Janis Tarchuk 4,727 (49.34%)		Patricia K. Robertson 2,753 (28.74%)		Anne Wilson 575 (6.00%)				Dan Cunin 1,353 (14.12%)		Zrinko Amerl (Ind.) 172 (1.80%)		Janis Tarchuk
Drayton Valley-Calmar		Diana McQueen 5,931 (58.74%)		Norma Block 846 (8.38%)		Luanne Bannister 390 (3.86%)		Dean Schmale 1,053 (10.43%)		Edwin Erickson 1,877 (18.59%)				Tony Abbott
Foothills-Rocky View		Ted Morton 6,916 (57.41%)		Herb Coburn 2,200 (18.26%)		Ricardo de Menezes 196 (1.63%)		Joseph McMaster 1,797 (14.92%)		Larry Ashmore 937 (7.78%)				Ted Morton
Innisfail-Sylvan Lake		Luke Ouellette 6,967 (62.82%)		Garth Davis 1,539 (13.88%)		Tophie Davies 702 (6.33%)		Wayne Edmundson 1,215 (10.96%)		Lisa Grant 545 (4.91%)		Anthony Haggarty (Ind) 122 (1.10%)		Luke Ouellette
Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills		Richard Marz 7,837 (64.06%)		Tony Vonesch 1,038 (8.49%)		Andy Davies 268 (2.19%)		Curt Engel 2,572 (21.03%)		Kate Haddow 518 (4.23%)				Richard Marz
Red Deer North		Mary Anne Jablonski 4,715 (57.94%)		Richard Farrand 1,770 (21.75%)		Shawn Nielsen 560 (6.88%)		Urs Lehner 630 (7.74%)		Rueben Tschetter 463 (5.69%)				Mary Anne Jablonski
Red Deer South		Cal Dallas 7,139 (56.18%)		Diane Kubanek 3,414 (26.86%)		Teresa Bryanton 597 (4.70%)		Ed Klop 949 (7.47%)		Evan Bedford 609 (4.79%)				Victor Doerksen
Rocky Mountain House		Ty Lund 6,188 (62.30%)		Norm McDougall 849 (8.55%)		Jorge Souza 279 (2.81%)		Fanie van Heerden 1,156 (11.64%)		Jennifer Ripley 699 (7.03%)		Wilf Tricker (SC) 643 (6.47%) Bruce Hutton (SPA) 119 (1.20%)		Ty Lund
Stony Plain		Fred Lindsay 8,467 (63.38%)		Bill Fraser 2,552 (19.10%)		Shelina Brown 976 (7.31%)		Sandy Pariseau 793 (5.94%)		Nora Shea 571 (4.27%)				Fred Lindsay
West Yellowhead		Robin Campbell 4,206 (53.83%)		Lisa Higgerty 1,932 (24.72%)		Ken Kuzminski 1,054 (13.49%)		Earle Cunningham 326 (4.17%)		Scott Pickett 296 (3.79%)				Ivan Strang
Whitecourt-Ste. Anne		George VanderBurg 6,019 (60.60%)		Mike Grey 1,106 (11.14%)		Leah Redmond 661 (6.65%)		Link Byfield 2,146 (21.61%)						George VanderBurg

East Central Alberta

Electoral district	Candidates												Incumbent
	PC		Liberal		NDP		Wildrose Alliance		Greens		Other
Battle River-Wainwright		Doug Griffiths 7,968 (78.57%)		Horst Schreiber 1,260 (12.42%)		Doris Bannister 431 (4.25%)				Will Munsey 483 (4.76%)				Doug Griffiths
Drumheller-Stettler		Jack Hayden 6,986 (68.90%)		Tom Dooley 1,463 (14.43%)		Richard Bough 276 (2.72%)		Dave France 1,062 (10.47%)		Amanda Bolton 353 (3.48%)				Jack Hayden
Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville		Ed Stelmach 11,169 (78.13%)		Earl J. Woods 1,343 (9.39%)		Clayton Marsden 1,233 (8.63%)				Ryan Scheie 551 (3.85%)				Ed Stelmach
Lacombe-Ponoka		Ray Prins 8,202 (58.18%)		Edith McPhedran 1,200 (8.51%)		Steve Bradshaw 560 (3.97%)		Daniel Freisen 911 (6.46%)		Joe Anglin 3,226 (22.88%)				Ray Prins
Leduc-Beaumont-Devon		George Rogers 9,045 (64.91%)		Joyce Assen 2,329 (16.72%)		Lisa Erickson 1,057 (7.59%)		Sharon MacLise 1,008 (7.23%)		Kevin Colton 495 (3.55%)				George Rogers
Vermilion-Lloydminster		Lloyd Snelgrove 7,013 (80.75%)		Robert Sawatzky 826 (9.51%)		Wendy Myshak 482 (5.55%)				Ngaio Hotte 364 (4.19%)				Lloyd Snelgrove
Wetaskiwin-Camrose		Verlyn Olson 7,726 (65.89%)		Keith Elliott 1,646 (14.04%)		Sarah Mowat 1,078 (9.19%)		Tyler Knelsen 818 (6.98%)		Midge Lambert 458 (3.90%)				LeRoy Johnson

Central Edmonton

Electoral district	Candidates												Incumbent
	PC		Liberal		NDP		Wildrose Alliance		Greens		Other
Edmonton Beverly Clareview		Tony Vandermeer 4,182 (39.63%)		Dawit Isaac 1,996 (18.92%)		Ray Martin 3,845 (36.44%)		Brian Dell 289 (2.74%)		Frederick Pivot 183 (1.73%)		Robin Porteous (SC) 57 (0.54%)		Ray Martin
Edmonton Centre		Bill Donahue 3,291 (29.36%)		Laurie Blakeman 5,042 (44.98%)		Deron Bilous 2,163 (19.30%)		James Iverson 200 (1.78%)		David Parker 472 (4.21%)		Margaret Saunter (AP) 42 (0.37%)		Laurie Blakeman
Edmonton-Glenora		Heather Klimchuk 4,604 (39.90%)		Bruce Miller 4,508 (39.07%)		Arlene Chapman 1,743 (15.11%)		Elden Van Hauwaert 275 (2.38%)		Peter Johnston 408 (3.54%)				Bruce Miller
Edmonton Gold Bar		David Dorward 5,261 (37.61%)		Hugh MacDonald 6,279 (44.89%)		Sherry McKibben 1,923 (13.75%)				David Zylstra 525 (3.75%)				Hugh MacDonald
Edmonton Highlands-Norwood		Andrew Beniuk 2,978 (31.92%)		Brad Smith 1,132 (12.13%)		Brian Mason 4,754 (50.95%)		Travis Loewen 245 (2.63%)		Mohamad Maie 221 (2.37%)				Brian Mason
Edmonton Mill Creek		Gene Zwozdesky 6,857 (50.78%)		Aman Gill 4,058 (30.05%)		Stephen Anderson 1,822 (13.49%)				Glen Argan 726 (5.38%)		Naomi Rankin (Com) 41 (0.30%)		Gene Zwozdesky
Edmonton-Mill Woods		Carl Benito 4,752 (43.87%)		Weslyn Mather 3,996 (36.89%)		Christina Gray 1,474 (13.61%)		Robert Leddy 321 (2.95%)		David Hruska 289 (2.68%)				Weslyn Mather
Edmonton Riverview		Wendy Andrews 5,171 (35.03%)		Kevin Taft 7,471 (50.61%)		Erica Bullwinkle 1,284 (8.70%)		Kyle Van Hauwaert 329 (2.23%)		Cameron Wakefield 506 (3.43%)				Kevin Taft
Edmonton Rutherford		Fred Horne 5,225 (42.49%)		Rick Miller 5,167 (42.02%)		Mike Butler 1,178 (9.58%)		John Baloun 379 (3.08%)		Kate Wyrostok 348 (2.83%)				Rick Miller
Edmonton Strathcona		T.J. Keil 3,031 (25.50%)		Tim Vant 2,452 (20.63%)		Rachel Notley 5,862 (49.32%)				Adrian Cole 540 (4.55%)				Raj Pannu

Suburban Edmonton and environs

Electoral district	Candidates												Incumbent
	PC		Liberal		NDP		Wildrose Alliance		Greens		Other
Edmonton-Calder		Doug Elniski 4,557 (40.86%)		Jim Kane 1,839 (16.49%)		David Eggen 4,356 (39.05%)				Mike Brown 402 (3.60%)				David Eggen
Edmonton Castle Downs		Thomas Lukaszuk 7,159 (51.55%)		Chris Kibermanis 5,090 (36.65%)		Ali Haymour 1,341 (9.66%)				Bob Reckhow 297 (2.14%)				Thomas Lukaszuk
Edmonton Decore		Janice Sarich 4,577 (45.71%)		Bill Bonko 3,895 (38.89%)		Sidney Sadik 1,301 (12.99%)				Trey Capenhurst 241 (2.41%)				Bill Bonko
Edmonton Ellerslie		Naresh Bhardwaj 4,581 (41.90%)		Bharat Agnihotri 3,592 (32.86%)		Marilyn Assheton-Smith 1,891 (17.30%)		Krista Leddy 471 (4.31%)		Paul Boos 335 (3.06%)		Cheryl Ullah (SC) 62 (0.57%)		Bharat Agnihotri
Edmonton Manning		Peter Sandhu 4,107 (35.79%)		Sandeep Dhir 2,260 (19.70%)		Rick Murti 2,307 (20.11%)		Phil Gamache 289 (2.52%)		Odette Boily 235 (2.05%)		Dan Backs (Ind.) 2,275 (19.83%)		Dan Backs
Edmonton McClung		David Xiao 7,173 (48.94%)		Mo Elsalhy 5,947 (40.57%)		Bridget Stirling 924 (6.30%)		Kristine Jassman 272 (1.86%)		Bryan Wyrostok 342 (2.33%)				Mo Elsalhy
Edmonton Meadowlark		Raj Sherman 6,174 (54.83%)		Debbie Cavaliere 3,423 (30.40%)		Pascal Ryffel 1,010 (8.97%)		Richard Guyon 306 (2.72%)		Amanda Doyle 347 (3.08%)				Maurice Tougas
Edmonton-Whitemud		David Hancock 12,054 (58.47%)		Nancy Cavanaugh 6,997 (33.94%)		Hana Razga 1,023 (4.96%)				Valerie Kennedy 543 (2.63%)				David Hancock
Sherwood Park		Iris Evans 9,312 (63.14%)		Louise Rogers 3,843 (26.06%)		Katharine Hay 904 (6.13%)				Rick Hoines 689 (4.67%)				Iris Evans
Spruce Grove-Sturgeon-St. Albert		Doug Horner 9,369 (60.83%)		Ray Boudreau 4,528 (29.40%)		Peter Cross 960 (6.23%)				Allan West 545 (3.54%)				Doug Horner
St. Albert		Ken Allred 8,403 (54.09%)		Jack Flaherty 5,598 (36.03%)		Katy Campbell 959 (6.17%)				Ross Vincent 576 (3.71%)				Jack Flaherty
Strathcona		Dave Quest 9,951 (66.19%)		Jon Friel 2,995 (19.92%)		Denny Holmwood 911 (6.06%)				Kate Harrington 763 (5.07%)		Gordon Barrett (SC) 415 (2.76%)		Rob Lougheed

Southern Alberta

Electoral district	Candidates												Incumbent
	PC		Liberal		NDP		Wildrose Alliance		Greens		Other
Airdrie-Chestermere		Rob Anderson 9,374 (62.58%)		John Burke 1,973 (13.17%)		Bryan Young 609 (4.07%)		Jeff Willerton 2,362 (15.77%)		David Brandreth 660 (4.41%)				Carol Haley
Cardston-Taber-Warner		Broyce Jacobs 4,374 (46.02%)		Ron Hancock 436 (4.59%)		Suzanne Sirias 190 (2.00%)		Paul Hinman 4,325 (45.50%)		Billy Turner 180 (1.89%)				Paul Hinman
Cypress-Medicine Hat		Leonard Mitzel 5,640 (63.34%)		Dick Mastel 2,023 (22.72%)		Manuel Martinez 347 (3.90%)		Dan Pierson 679 (7.63%)		Bright Pride 215 (2.41%)				Leonard Mitzel
Highwood		George Groeneveld 7,715 (65.11%)		Stan Shedd 1,647 (13.90%)		Carolyn Boulton 391 (3.30%)		Daniel Doherty 1,405 (11.86%)		John Barret 691 (5.83%)				George Groeneveld
Lethbridge East		Jason Herasemluk 4,715 (39.21%)		Bridget Pastoor 5,582 (46.42%)		Tom Moffatt 687 (5.71%)		Grant Shaw 748 (6.22%)		Helen McMenamin 292 (2.44%)				Bridget Pastoor
Lethbridge West		Greg Weadick 5,002 (43.68%)		Bal Boora 4,022 (35.13%)		James Moore 1,179 (10.30%)		Matt Fox 855 (7.47%)		Brennan Tilley 392 (3.42%)				Clint Dunford
Little Bow		Barry McFarland 5,150 (58.06%)		Everett Tanis 1,080 (12.18%)		Duane Petluk 322 (3.63%)		Kevin Kinahan 2,051 (23.12%)		Marie Read 267 (3.01%)				Barry McFarland
Livingstone-Macleod		Evan Berger 6,037 (64.18%)		Mike Judd 1,534 (16.31%)		Phil Burpee 476 (5.06%)		Jack Macleod 988 (10.50%)		Bryan Hunt 371 (3.95%)				David Coutts
Medicine Hat		Rob Renner 5,388 (51.18%)		Karen Charlton 3,625 (34.43%)		Diana Arnott 484 (4.60%)		Clint Rabb 746 (7.08%)		Karen Kraus 285 (2.71%)				Rob Renner
Strathmore-Brooks		Arno Doerksen 7,623 (74.55%)		Gerry Hart 991 (9.69%)		Brian Stokes 313 (3.06%)		Amanda Shehata 935 (9.14%)		Chris Bayford 362 (3.55%)				Lyle Oberg

Suburban Calgary

Electoral district	Candidates												Incumbent
	PC		Liberal		NDP		Wildrose Alliance		Greens		Other
Calgary-Bow		Alana DeLong 6,687 (45.16%)		Greg Flanagan 5,173 (34.93%)		Teale Phelps Bondaroff 507 (3.42%)		Barry Holizki 1,425 (9.62%)		Randy Weeks 845 (5.71%)		Len Skowronski (SC) 171 (1.16%)		Alana DeLong
Calgary-Cross		Yvonne Fritz 4,004 (56.82%)		Rob Reinhold 1,567 (22.24%)		Shelina Hassanali 476 (6.75%)		Gordon Huth 605 (8.59%)		Susan Stratton 395 (5.60%)				Yvonne Fritz
Calgary-Foothills		Len Webber 6,088 (48.20%)		Mike Robinson 4,909 (38.86%)		Stephanie Sundburg 251 (1.99%)		Kevin Legare 972 (7.70%)		Ian Groll 411 (3.25%)				Len Webber
Calgary-Fort		Wayne Cao 4,123 (49.81%)		Carole Oliver 1,770 (21.39%)		Julie Hrdlicka 1,178 (14.23%)		Travis Chase 715 (8.64%)		J. Mark Taylor 491 (5.93%)				Wayne Cao
Calgary-Hays		Arthur Johnston 6,968 (54.23%)		Bill Kurtze 3,586 (27.91%)		Tyler Kinch 366 (2.84%)		Devin Cassidy 1,366 (10.63%)		Keeley Bruce 564 (4.39%)				Arthur Johnston
Calgary-Lougheed		David Rodney 7,190 (52.51%)		Lori Czerwinski 3,926 (28.68%)		Clint Marko 336 (2.45%)		Derrick Jacobson 1,620 (11.83%)		Bernie Amell 520 (3.80%)		Gordon Laurie (Ind.) 100 (0.73%)		David Rodney
Calgary-Mackay		Teresa Woo-Paw 6,247 (48.40%)		Tianna Melnyk 4,048 (31.36%)		Daena Diduck 426 (3.30%)		Rob Gregory 1,609 (12.46%)		Ryan Smith 578 (4.48%)				Vacant
Calgary-McCall		Shiraz Shariff 4,161 (43.16%)		Darshan Kang 4,279 (44.38%)		Preet Sihota 275 (2.85%)		Ina Given 542 (5.62%)		Heather Brocklesby 385 (3.99%)				Shiraz Shariff
Calgary-Montrose		Manmeet Bhullar 2,627 (34.45%)		Michael Embaie 1,396 (18.31%)		Al Brown 512 (6.71%)		Said Abdulbaki 818 (10.73%)		Fred Clemens 262 (3.44%)		Ron Leech (Ind) 2,010 (26.36%)		Hung Pham
Calgary-North West		Lindsay Blackett 8,415 (46,21%)		Dale Martin D'Silva 5,552 (30.49%)		Colin Anderson 637 (3.50%)		Chris Jukes 2,703 (14.85%)		George Read 902 (4.95%)				Greg Melchin
Calgary-Shaw		Cindy Ady 7,010 (58.12%)		John Roggeveen 2,958 (24.53%)		Jenn Carlson 334 (2.77%)		Richard P. Dur 1,268 (10.51%)		Jennifer Oss-Saunders 491 (4.07%_				Cindy Ady
Calgary-West		Ron Liepert 8,428 (47.97%)		Beth Gignac 5,693 (32.41%)		Chantelle Dubois 401 (2.28%)		Bob Babcock 2,273 (12.94%)		James Kohut 773 (4.40%)				Ron Liepert

Central Calgary

Electoral district	Candidates												Incumbent
	PC		Liberal		NDP		Wildrose Alliance		Greens		Other
Calgary-Buffalo		Sean Chu 3,646 (38.85%)		Kent Hehr 4,583 (48.83%)		Robert Lawrence 387 (4.12%)				Stephen Ricketts 611 (6.51%)		Antoni Grochowski (SC) 158 (1.69%)		Harvey Cenaiko
Calgary-Currie		Arthur Kent 4,552 (37.27%)		Dave Taylor 5,564 (45.56%)		Marc Power 531 (4.35%)		Ken Mazeroll 670 (5.49%)		Graham MacKenzie 896 (7.34%)				Dave Taylor
Calgary-East		Moe Amery 4,583 (53.85%)		Bill Harvey 2,433 (28.59%)		Christopher Dovey 425 (4.99%)		Mike McCraken 681 (8.00%)		Ross Cameron 333 (3.91%)		Bonnie Collins (Com) 55 (0.66%)		Moe Amery
Calgary-Egmont		Jonathan Denis 5,415 (43.61%)		Cathie Williams 3,289 (26.49%)		Jason Nishiyama 447 (3.60%)		Barry Chase 676 (5.44%)		Mark McGillvray 582 (4.69%)		Craig Chandler (Ind.) 2,008 (16.17%)		Denis Herard
Calgary-Elbow		Alison Redford 6,130 (42.08%)		Craig Cheffins 5,711 (39.20%)		Garnet Wilcox 290 (1.99%)		Dale Nelson 963 (6.61%)		Jonathon Sheffield 526 (3.61%)		Barry Erskine (Ind) 948 (6.51%)		Craig Cheffins
Calgary-Fish Creek		Heather Forsyth 6,884 (52.30%)		Laura Shutiak 4,038 (30.68%)		Eric Leavitt 423 (3.22%)		Jamie Buchan 1,261 (9.58%)		Kerry Fraser 556 (4.22%)				Heather Forsyth
Calgary-Glenmore		Ron Stevens 6,436 (50.67%)		Avalon Roberts 4,213 (33.17%)		Holly Heffernan 477 (3.76%)		Ryan Sadler 1,025 (8.07%)		Arden Bonokoski 550 (4.33%)				Ron Stevens
Calgary-Mountain View		Leah Lawrence 4,252 (30.91%)		David Swann 7,086 (51.51%)		John Donovan 661 (4.81%)		Cory Morgan 892 (6.48%)		Juliet Burgess 865 (6.29%)				David Swann
Calgary-North Hill		Kyle Fawcett 4,281 (38.22%)		Pat Murray 3,573 (31.99%)		John Chan 1,381 (12.36%)		Jane Morgan 976 (8.74%)		Kevin Maloney 732 (6.55%)		Jim Wright (SC) 228 (2.04%)		Richard Magnus
Calgary-Nose Hill		Neil Brown 4,586 (49.24%)		Len Borowski 2,761 (29.65%)		Tristan Ridley 388 (4.17%)		John Murdoch 954 (10.24%)		Nick Burman 624 (6.70%)				Neil Brown
Calgary-Varsity		Jennifer Diakiw 5,353 (36.69%)		Harry B. Chase 6,907 (47.33%)		Tim Stock-Bateman 530 (3.63%)		Brennan Ltyle 1,043 (7.15%)		Sean Maw 758 (5.19%)				Harry B. Chase

References

References

1. "Albertans to vote March 3". CBC News. February 4, 2008. Archived from the original on May 30, 2014. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
2. Election Alberta (July 28, 2008). 2008 General Report (PDF). p. 158. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 24, 2012. Retrieved April 29, 2011.
3. Erickson, Edwin (October 3, 2006). "Candidate Update". Alberta Greens. Archived from the original on October 8, 2007. Retrieved November 3, 2006.

• Raj Pannu not running again, and predicts spring 2007 vote CBC news June 14, 2006
• Alberta Votes 2008: Promise tracker, cbc.ca, accessed February 22, 2008

Works cited

• Chief Electoral Officer (2008). The Report on the March 3, 2008 Provincial General Election of the Twenty-Seventh Legislative Assembly (Report). Edmonton, Alta.: Elections Alberta. Retrieved April 7, 2021.

External links

• 2008 Alberta General Election | Mapleleafweb.com
• DemocraticSPACE Alberta 2008 Coverage
• Elections Alberta
• Election Almanac - Alberta Provincial Election
• What is my Riding?
• Alberta Election Predictor 2008