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 per cent 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%.

PartyParty leader# ofcandidatesSeatsPopular vote2001DissolutionElected% Change#%% Change Progressive Conservative Ralph Klein837473622-15.1%416,88646.8%-15.1% Kevin Taft8275162+220%261,73729.4%+2.1% NDP Brian Mason83224+100%90,82910.2%+2.1% Randy Thorsteinson83*11-77,4668.7%* George Read49----24,4512.8%+2.5% Social Credit Lavern Ahlstrom42----10,9981.2%+0.7% Separation Bruce Hutton12*---4,6950.5%-0.37%1 Alberta Party Bruce Stubbs4*---2,4810.3%*Independent10----9940.1%-0.9% Naomi Rankin2----98<0.1%~0%   Vacant*2 Total450838383-890,635100%  Note: * 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 Party nameCgy.Edm.1Leth.R.D.NorthCentralSouthTotalProgressive Conservative Seats:203121019761 Popular vote:50.5%31.5%38.3%44.1%55.5%52.7%55.1%46.8%Liberal Seats:3111  1 16 Popular vote:32.1%40.3%37.9%32.5%19.8%21.9%19.1%29.4%New Democrats Seats: 4     4 Popular vote:4.9%22.0%8.1%6.1%8.6%7.9%4.4%10.2%Alberta Alliance Seats:      11 Popular vote:6.5%4.2%10.2%14.9%13.8%11.3%13.1%8.7%Total seats: 2318221020883Parties that won no seats: Popular vote:5.5%1.0%3.1%1.2%1.1%2.5%2.1%2.8%Social Credit Popular vote:0.3%0.8%2.6%-1.1%2.3%2.4%1.2%Separation Popular Vote:0.2%--1.3%-0.9%2.6%0.5%Alberta Party Popular vote:<0.1%----0.6%1.3%0.3% Popular vote:<0.1%<0.1%-----<0.1%Independents Popular vote:0.1%0.2%--0.1%0.1%-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

Results by riding

Party SeatsSecondThirdFourthFifthSixth— Progressive Conservative62201000165016000 New Democratic Party422927183110263790 Green01912234Social Credit00131721Separation000246Alberta Party001201

Names in bold indicate party leaders and cabinet ministers.

Northern Alberta Electoral DistrictCandidatesIncumbentPCLiberalNDPAllianceGreenOther       Athabasca-RedwaterMike Cardinal5,706Nicole Belland3,258Peter Opryshko1,407Sean Whelan1,174Luke de Smet252Leonard Fish(Soc. Cred.) 179Mike CardinalAthabasca-Wabascamerged districtDave Broda†RedwaterBarrhead-Morinville-WestlockKen Kowalski6,967Alan Fiebich2,250Peggy Kirkeby1,098Mike Radojcic1,012Carl Haugen(Soc. Cred.) 404Ken KowalskiBarrhead-WestlockBonnyville-Cold LakeDenis Ducharme3,621Lloyd Mildon797Denise Ogonoski312Shane Gervais955Denis DucharmeDunvegan-Central PeaceHector Goudreau3,670Don Thompson689Leon R. Pendleton446Dale Lueken3,332Lanny Portsmouth(Soc. Cred.) 118Hector GoudreauDunveganFort McMurray-Wood BuffaloGuy Boutilier4,429Russell Collicott1,800Dave Malka460Eugene Eklund224Reginald Normore(Ind.) 94Guy BoutilierFort McMurrayGrande Prairie-SmokyMel Knight4,369Neil Peacock1,965Georgina Szoke724Hank Rahn688Mel KnightGrande Prairie-WapitiGordon Graydon4,348Cibylla Rakestraw1,677Jerry Macdonald972John Hilton-O'Brien547Allan Webber348Gordon GraydonLac La Biche-St. PaulRay Danyluk4,898Dickson Broomfield1,877Phil Goebel648Oscar Lacombe1,703Ray DanylukLesser Slave LakePearl Calahasen3,894Jonathan Pleckaitis530Doris Bannister354Valerie Rahn977Ian Hopfe254Pearl CalahasenPeace RiverFrank Oberle2,888Adam Bourque1,101Stephen Crocker558Gary Checknita541Patsy Lindberg(Soc. Cred.) 204Gary Friedel†

Western and Central Alberta Electoral DistrictCandidatesIncumbentPCLiberalNDPAllianceGreenOther      Banff-CochraneJanis Tarchuk4,236Ian McDougall1,649Melissa Cambridge468Bob Argent476Chris Foote1,205 Janis TarchukDrayton Valley-CalmarTony Abbott5,231Laura Higgerty890Lynn Oberle641Viona Cunningham764Edwin Erickson927Thomas Cliff(Soc. Cred.) 244 Elmer Knopp(Ind.) 115Tony AbbottFoothills-Rocky ViewTed Morton6,770Herb Coburn1,954Roland Schmidt232Jason Herasemluk1,081Shelley Willson1,186New districtInnisfail-Sylvan LakeLuke Ouellette6,206Garth Davis1,816Chris Janke585Randy Thorsteinson2,242 Wilf Tricker(Soc. Cred.) 349Luke OuelletteOlds-Didsbury-Three HillsRichard Marz7,277Tony Vonesch1,336Christopher Davies257Gordon Quantz2,021Sarah Henckel-Sutmoller469Brian Vasseur(Sep. Pty.) 746Myrna Kissick(Soc. Cred.) 143Richard MarzRed Deer-NorthMary Anne Jablonski3,736Norm McDougall2,640Steven Bedford430Rand Sisson1,660Colin Fisher244 Mary Anne JablonskiRed Deer-SouthVictor Doerksen5,371Walter Kubanek4,073Jeff Sloychuk836Patti Argent1,418 Judy Milne(Sep. Pty.) 261Victor DoerksenRocky Mountain HouseTy Lund5,773Susan M. Scott1,267Anthony Jones300Ed Wilhite810Jennifer Isaac337Lavern Ahlstrom(Soc. Cred.) 1,267Bruce Hutton(Sep. Pty.) 505Ty LundStony PlainFred Lindsay5,644Bill Fraser3,402Ruth Yanor1,375Marilyn Burns1,878 Henry Neumann(Soc. Cred.) 245Stan Woloshyn†West YellowheadIvan Strang3,769Rob Jolly1,682Barry Madsen1,783Earl Cunningham615Monika Schaefer360 Ivan StrangWhitecourt-Ste. AnneGeorge VanderBurg5,071George Higgerty1,219Leah Redmond996David Dow2,333  George VanderBurg

East Central Alberta Electoral DistrictCandidatesIncumbentPCLiberalNDPAllianceGreenOther      Battle River-WainwrightDoug Griffiths6,409Gordon Rogers1,069Len Legault616Orest Werzak1,440 Robin Skitteral(Soc. Cred.) 319Doug GriffithsWainwrightDrumheller-StettlerShirley McClellan6,770 Richard Bough890Dave France1,413 Eileen Walker(Ab Pty.) 616Dave Carnegie(Sep. Pty.) 465Mary-Lou Kloppenburg(Soc. Cred.) 279Shirley McClellanDrumheller-ChinookFort Saskatchewan-VegrevilleEd Stelmach6,160Peter Schneider3,160Wes Buyarski1,633Byron King1,411 Mark Patterson(Soc. Cred.) 379Ed StelmachVegreville-VikingLacombe-PonokaRay Prins6,919Glen Simmonds2,218Jim Graves1,124Ed Klop2,349 Teena Cormack(Soc. Cred.) 467Judy GordonMerged districtHalvar JonsonLeduc-Beaumont-DevonGeorge Rogers6,809Joyce Assen3,425Katie Oppen904Dave Dalke1,140Stephen Lindop381Karen Richert(Soc. Cred.) 249Albert Klapstein†LeducVermilion-LloydminsterLloyd Snelgrove5,464Patricia Thomas706Ray Stone553David Benoit2,437  Lloyd SnelgroveWetaskiwin-CamroseLeRoy Johnson6,177Keith Elliott2,713Clay Lawson908Dale Trefz1,193 Janice Wolter(Soc. Cred.) 309LeRoy Johnson

Central Edmonton

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Edmonton Beverly Clareview | |Julius Yankowsky3,059 | |Sam Parmar1,166 || |Ray Martin5,268 | |Phil Gamache457 | |Benoit Couture141 | |Ken Shipka (Soc. Cred.)283 || |Julius Yankowsky |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Edmonton Centre | |Don Weideman2,622 || |Laurie Blakeman6,236 | |Mary Elizabeth Archer1,538 | |Tony Caterina264 | |David J. Parker336 | |Linda Clements (Soc. Cred.)111 || |Laurie Blakeman |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Edmonton-Glenora | |Drew Hutton3,758 || |Bruce Miller4,610 | |Larry Booi4,059 | |Blaine Currie307 | |Peter Johnston272 | |Walter Schachenhofer (Soc. Cred.)112 || |Drew Hutton |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Edmonton Gold Bar | |Manjit Dhaliwal2,574 || |Hugh MacDonald8,794 | |Keith Turnbull1,966 | |Delmar Hunt538

|Dave Dowling (Ind.)167 || |Hugh MacDonald |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Edmonton Highlands-Norwood | |Terry Martiniuk2,209 | |Jason Manzevich1,035 || |Brian Mason6,053 | |Ray Loyer315

|Dale W. Ferris (Ind.)66 || |Brian Mason |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Edmonton Mill Creek || |Gene Zwozdesky5,071 | |Aman Gill4,286 | |Nathan Taylor1,709 | |Robert Alford523 | |Eric Steiglitz386 | |Cameron Johnson (Ind.)72 || |Gene Zwozdesky |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Edmonton-Mill Woods | |Naresh Bhardwaj2,989 || |Weslyn Mather5,014 | |Lloyd Nelson1,565 | |Charles Relland816

|Naomi Rankin (Communist)42 || |Don Massey |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Edmonton Riverview | |Fred Horne3,571 || |Kevin Taft10,279 | |Donna Martyn1,053 | |David Edgar315 | |John Lackey355 | |Dave W. Power (Soc. Cred.)111 || |Kevin Taft |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Edmonton Rutherford | |Ian McClelland4,173 || |Rick Miller7,217 | |George A. Slade995 | |R. J. (Bob) Ewart516

|Anit Ashmore (Soc. Cred.)210 || |Ian McClelland |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Edmonton-Strathcona | |Shannon Stubbs2,256 | |Steven Leard1,850 || |Raj Pannu7,430 | |Jeremy Burns275 | |Adrian Cole287 | |Kelly Graham (Soc. Cred.)162 || |Raj Pannu

Suburban Edmonton and Environs

|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Edmonton-Calder | |Brent Rathgeber3,680 | |Brad Smith3,028 || |David Eggen4,055 | |Vicki Kramer526

|Brent Rathgeber |- |rowspan=2 bgcolor=whitesmoke|Edmonton Castle Downs Election Recount | |Thomas Lukaszuk5,014 || |Chris Kibermanis5,019 | |Peter Cross1,317 | |Colin Presizniuk583

|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 Szwender3,033 |rowspan=3 | |rowspan=3|Bill Bonko4,418 |rowspan=3| |rowspan=3|Shirley Barg 1,524 |rowspan=3| |rowspan=3|Gary Masyk830 |rowspan=3| |rowspan=3|  |rowspan=3| |rowspan=3|Geoffrey Chevrier (Soc. Cred.)94 || |Bill Bonner |- |colspan=2 align="center"|merged district

|Gary Masyk |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke |Edmonton Ellerslie | |Gurnam Dodd3,245 || |Bharat Agnihotri3,444 | |Marilyn Assheton-Smith2,257 | |Eleanor Maroes985

|Amelia Maciejewski (Soc. Cred.)238 || |vacant |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke |Edmonton-Manning | |Tony Vandermeer3,646 || |Dan Backs3,873 | |Laurie Lang2,371 | |Mike Pietramala515 | |Ross Adshead240 | |Sean Tisdall (Soc. Cred.)130 || |Tony Vandermeer |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke |Edmonton McClung | |Mark Norris5,331 || |Mo Elsalhy5,864 | |Lorne Dach1,362 | |Reuben Bauer401

|Patrick Conlin (Soc. Cred.)104 || |Mark Norris |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke |Edmonton Meadowlark | |Bob Maskell4,243 || |Maurice Tougas4,436 | |Lance Burns1,303 |