1905 Alberta general election

The Alberta general election of 1905 was the first general election held in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on November 9 1905 to elect members of the Alberta legislature to the 1st Alberta Legislative Assembly, shortly after the province was created out of the Northwest Territories on September 1 1905.

The Alberta Liberal Party of Alexander C. Rutherford won twenty three of the twenty five seats in the new legislature, defeating the Conservative Party, which was led by a young lawyer, Richard Bennett, who later served as Prime Minister of Canada.

Prior to the 1905 election the two political parties saw numerous changes and defections, In Alberta a host of former Liberal-Conservative MLA's jumped ship to the Liberals, when Sir Wilfrid Laurier appointed the Liberal provisional government prior to the election. The Conservatives had no strong leader to rally around at the time as Frederick Haultain, had moved to Saskatchewan.

The election in 1905 was a bitter one, especially in Calgary and Southern Alberta where the Liberals were accused of vote tampering and interfering with Conservative voters. Recounts especially in Calgary took almost a month and saw the result swing back and forth. The scandal led to the arrest of some key Liberal organizers, including William Cushing's campaign manager, who had been a returning officer at a Calgary polling station.

Results

Party	Party Leader	# of candidates	Elected	Popular Vote
Party	Party Leader	# of candidates	Elected	#	% Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Liberal/row	Liberal	Alexander C. Rutherford	27	23	14,485	57.56% Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Progressive Conservatives/row	Conservative	Richard Bennett	22	2	9,342	37.13% Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Independents/row	Independent	7	-	1,336	5.31%
Total		56	25	25,163	100%
Source: Elections Alberta

Members of the Legislative Assembly elected

For complete electoral history, see individual districts

	District	Member
1st Alberta Legislative Assembly
Athabasca	William Bredin	Liberal
Banff	Charles W. Fisher	Liberal
Calgary	William Cushing	Liberal
Cardston	John William Woolf	Liberal
Edmonton	Charles Cross	Liberal
Gliechen	Charles Stuart	Liberal
High River	Albert Robertson	Conservative
Innisfail	John A. Simpson	Liberal
Lacombe	William Puffer	Liberal
Leduc	Robert Telford	Liberal
Lethbridge	Leverett DeVeber	Liberal
Macleod	Malcolm McKenzie	Liberal
Medicine Hat	William Finlay	Liberal
Peace River	Thomas Brick	Liberal
Pincher Creek	John Plummer Marcellus	Liberal
Ponoka	John R. McLeod	Liberal
Red Deer	John Moore	Liberal
Rosebud	Cornelius Hiebert	Conservative
St. Albert	William Henry McKenny	Liberal
Stony Plain	John McPherson	Liberal
Strathcona	Alexander Rutherford	Liberal
Sturgeon	John R. Boyle	Liberal
Vermillion	Matthew McCauley	Liberal
Victoria	Francis A. Walker	Liberal
Wetaskiwin	Anthony Rosenroll	Liberal

v t e Elections and referendums in Alberta
General elections	1905 1909 1913 1917 1921 1926 1930 1935 1940 1944 1948 1952 1955 1959 1963 1967 1971 1975 1979 1982 1986 1989 1993 1997 2001 2004 2008 2012 2015 2019 2023 Next
By-elections	26th Alberta Legislature (2004–2008) 27th Alberta Legislature (2008–2012) 28th Legislature (2012–2015) 29th Legislature (2015–2019)
Senate nominee elections	1989 1998 2004 2012 2021
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Referendums	1915 1920 1923 1948 1957 1967 1971 2021
See also: Elections in Canada

Results

Members of the Legislative Assembly elected

See also