2008 Alberta general election


The 2008 Alberta general election was the twenty-seventh general election for the province of Alberta, Canada. It 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.
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.
The 2008 election had the lowest voter turnout in the province's history, with only 40.59% of eligible voters casting a ballot.

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. 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

Vote and seat summaries

Policy and other major announcements

[Alberta Liberal Party]

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

[New Democratic Party of Alberta]

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

Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta">Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta">Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta

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

[Wildrose Alliance Party of Alberta]

Costs: Cost of promises not released.

[Alberta Greens]

  1. Increase land designated as protected
  2. Protect the Yellowstone to Yukon corridor
  3. Authority and resources to enforce the legislation for protected areas officers
  1. More housing cooperatives and co-housing type developments
  2. Ensuring units are maintained by organizations that have a vested interest in sustaining them

Results by region

1 "Edmonton" corresponds to only the city of Edmonton. The four suburban ridings around the city as listed below are grouped with central Alberta in this table.

Opinion polls

Polling FirmLast Date of PollingLinkProg. Cons.LiberalNew DemocraticAllianceGreens
Election resultsMarch 3, 200853%26%9%7%5%
Angus Reid StrategiesFebruary 29, 200843%28%13%10%7%
Strategic CounselFebruary 28, 200850%25%8%10%8%
Leger MarketingFebruary 25, 200855%24%7%8%6%
Angus Reid StrategiesFebruary 20, 200842%31%9%10%8%
Ipsos-ReidFebruary 17, 200849%28%14%5%4%
EnvironicsFebruary 7, 200852%25%10%6%7%
Leger MarketingJanuary 24, 200849%28%11%5%8%
Strategic CounselJanuary 13, 200858%19%9%5%9%
Last election22 November 200448.8%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 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 AlbertaAlberta Liberal Party

  1. Cardston-Taber-Warner, 1.5%
  2. Edmonton-Meadowlark, 1.8%
  3. Edmonton-Ellerslie, 2.0%
  4. Edmonton-Manning, 2.6%
  5. St. Albert, 2.7%
  6. Edmonton-Calder, 3.0%
  7. Edmonton-McClung, 4.1%
  8. Lethbridge-East, 5.0%
  9. Calgary-Varsity, 5.3%
  10. Calgary-Currie, 5.7%
  • Edmonton-Castle Downs, <0.1%
  • Calgary-McCall, 4.1%
  • Spruce Grove-Sturgeon-St. Albert, 4.4%
  • Edmonton-Whitemud, 5.7%
  • Edmonton-Mill Creek, 6.5%
  • Calgary-Buffalo, 7.7%
  • Edmonton-Calder, 9.6%
  • Red Deer-South, 10.8%
  • Sherwood Park, 11.2%
    • Alberta New Democratic PartyWildrose Alliance Party
  • Edmonton-Glenora, 4.2%
  • Edmonton Ellerslie, 11.7%
  • Edmonton Manning, 14.2%
  • Dunvegan-Central Peace, 4.1%

    • MLAs not running again

    Liberal
    NDP
    Progressive Conservative
    Names in bold indicate party leaders and cabinet ministers.

    Northern Alberta

    Western and Central Alberta

    East Central Alberta

    Central Edmonton

    Suburban Edmonton and environs

    Southern Alberta

    Suburban Calgary

    Central Calgary