By-elections to the 29th Alberta Legislature

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By-elections to the 29th Alberta Legislature have been held to fill vacancies in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta after the 2015 election. To date, two by-elections have been held to fill vacancies in the 29th Alberta Legislature.

The 29th Alberta Legislature was formed after the 2015 election, during which the New Democrats won their first majority government under the leadership of Rachel Notley. Three by-elections since have been in ridings which were initially won by the Progressive Conservatives, and have returned one Wildrose, one Progressive Conservative, and one United Conservative member each to the legislature. Two held in ridings initially won by Wildrose returned United Conservative members.

Summary table[edit]

By-election Date Incumbent Party Winner Party Cause Retained
Fort McMurray-Conklin July 12, 2018 Brian Jean      United Conservative Laila Goodridge United Conservative Resigned several months after losing the UCP leadership election to Jason Kenney. Yes
Innisfail-Sylvan Lake July 12, 2018 Don MacIntyre      United Conservative Devin Dreeshen United Conservative Resigned after being charged with sexual interference with a minor.[1] Yes
Calgary-Lougheed December 14, 2017 Dave Rodney      United Conservative Jason Kenney      United Conservative Resigned to provide a seat for new UCP leader Jason Kenney Yes
Calgary-Greenway March 22, 2016 Manmeet Bhullar      Progressive Conservative Prabhdeep Gill      Progressive Conservative Killed in highway accident Yes
Calgary-Foothills September 3, 2015 Jim Prentice      Progressive Conservative Prasad Panda      Wildrose Disclaimed seat and resigned as party leader following government's defeat in general election No

Fort McMurray-Conklin[edit]

There will be a by-election in Fort McMurray-Conklin due to the March 5, 2018 resignation of United Conservative Party MLA and former Wildrose Party leader Brian Jean.[2] The by-election is being held on July 12, 2018.[3]


Alberta provincial by-election, July 12, 2018: Fort McMurray-Conklin
Upon the resignation of Brian Jean on March 5, 2018
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
United Conservative Laila Goodridge 2,689 67.02 +0.84
New Democratic Jane Stroud 1,149 28.64 -2.15
Alberta Party Sid Fayed 103 2.57
Liberal Robin Le Fevre 42 1.05 -1.99
Green Brian Deheer 29 0.72
Total valid votes 4,012 99.50
Rejected, spoiled and declined 20 0.50 -0.40
Turnout 4,032 32.59 -11.85
Eligible electors 12,370
United Conservative notional hold Swing +1.50
Source(s)
Elections Alberta. "Election results". Retrieved December 27, 2021.

^ UCP change is compared to combined Wildrose and Progressive Conservative

Innisfail-Sylvan Lake[edit]

There will be a by-election in Innisfail-Sylvan Lake due to United Conservative Party MLA Don MacIntyre's sudden resignation on February 5, 2018 after he was charged with sexual assault and "sexual interference" (i.e., touching a minor for a sexual purpose)[1] The by-election is being held on July 12, 2018.[3]


Alberta provincial by-election, July 12, 2018: Innisfail-Sylvan Lake
upon the resignation of Don MacIntyre on February 2, 2018
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
United Conservative Devin Dreeshen 8,029 81.67 +10.99
New Democratic Nicole Mooney 915 9.31 -13.83
Alberta Party Abigail Douglass 731 7.44 +1.25
Liberal Nicolaas Jansen 93 0.95
Independent David Inscho 63 0.64
Total valid votes 9,831
Rejected, spoiled, and declined 37
Turnout 9,868 31.22 -24.27
Eligible voters 31,604
United Conservative notional hold Swing +12.41
Source(s)
Elections Alberta. "Election results". Retrieved August 13, 2018.

Calgary-Lougheed[edit]

The by-election was held when Dave Rodney resigned his seat on November 1, 2017 to make way for Jason Kenney, the leader of the newly-formed United Conservative Party.[4] Kenney ended up winning the byelection and held the seat for the United Conservative Party.[5]

Alberta provincial by-election, December 14, 2017: Calgary-Lougheed
upon the resignation of Dave Rodney on November 1, 2017
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
United Conservative Jason Kenney 7,760 71.51 +8.35[a]
New Democratic Phillip van der Merwe 1,822 16.79 -15.24
Liberal David Khan 1,009 9.30 +4.49
Reform Lauren Thorsteinson 137 1.26
Green Romy Tittel 60 0.55
Independent Wayne Leslie 42 0.39
Independent Larry Heather 22 0.20
Total valid votes 10,852 98.84
Rejected, spoiled and declined 127 1.16 -0.30
Eligible voters / Turnout 31,067 35.34 -16.01
United Conservative notional hold Swing +11.80
Source(s)
Elections Alberta. "Election Results: Calgary-Lougheed". Retrieved 2018-03-15.
  1. ^ Swing is calculated from the sum of Progressive Conservative and Wildrose vote shares.

Calgary-Greenway[edit]

The riding of Calgary-Greenway was left vacant on November 23, 2015, when incumbent Progressive Conservative MLA Manmeet Bhullar was killed in a vehicle accident on Alberta Highway 2.[6] The resulting by-election was won by Prabhdeep Gill of the Progressive Conservatives.[7]

The by-election resulted in a Progressive Conservative hold, but saw the vote share for that party drop by 15 points from the 2015 election.

Alberta provincial by-election, March 22, 2016: Calgary-Greenway
upon the death of Manmeet Bhullar on November 23, 2015
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Prabhdeep Gill 2,292 27.73 -15.04
Wildrose Devinder Toor 1,957 23.68 +2.62
Liberal Khalil Karbani 1,870 22.63 -
New Democratic Roop Rai 1,667 20.17 -16.00
Green Thana Boonlert 166 2.01 -
Independent Said Hussein Abdulbaki 146 1.77 -
Independent Larry Heather 106 1.28 -
Independent Sukhi Rai 61 0.74 -
Total valid votes 8,265 100.00
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots
Turnout 29.23
Eligible voters 28,278
Progressive Conservative hold Swing -8.83

Calgary-Foothills[edit]

Following the Alberta Progressive Conservatives' defeat in the 2015 provincial election, outgoing premier Jim Prentice announced on election night that even though he had personally won re-election in Calgary-Foothills, he was resigning his seat in the legislature.[8] This had the effect of voiding the election result, and necessitated the calling of a by-election to fill the seat.

The by-election to succeed him was scheduled for September 3, 2015, and was won by Prasad Panda of the Wildrose Party. Panda's victory increased the Wildrose caucus to 22 members in the Legislature, and kept the Progressive Conservatives at 9.[9]

Alberta provincial by-election, September 3, 2015: Calgary-Foothills
Voiding of general election results due to Jim Prentice disclaiming his seat
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Wildrose Prasad Panda 4,877 38.35 +20.24
New Democratic Bob Hawkesworth 3,270 25.71 -6.65
Progressive Conservative Blair Houston 2,746 21.59 -18.74
Liberal Ali Bin Zahid 791 6.22 -0.94
Alberta Party Mark Taylor 610 4.80 +4.80
Green Janet Keeping 377 2.96 +0.92
Independent Antoni Grochowski 46 0.36
Total valid votes 12,717
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots
Turnout 39.48
Eligible voters 32,212
Wildrose gain from Progressive Conservative Swing +19.49

References[edit]