Alberta general election, 1935

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The Alberta general election of 1935 was the eighth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on August 22, 1935 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.

Premier John E. Brownlee was forced to resign on July 10, 1934 when he was sued and found guilty of the seduction of a young clerk working in the Attorney-General's office. The scandal seriously damaged the United Farmers of Alberta's reputation among socially conservative Albertans. The new UFA leader, Richard G. Reid, was unable to recover the party's popularity. The UFA's fiscal conservatism and the taint of moral turpitude led to the government's defeat in the 1935 election at the hands of the new Social Credit Party of Alberta and its leader evangelist William Aberhart. Every UFA candidate was defeated. Aberhart's combination of economic populism with Christian social conservatism highlighted the UFA's weaknesses. Social Credit won 56 of the 63 seats in the legislature, and over 50% of the popular vote.

The Alberta Liberals in this election ran with the tactically fatal slogan, the "rest of Canada can't be wrong", referring the popularity of the Liberal Party in the rest of the country, and paid the price by having their seats cut in half.

The turnout of the 1935 election topped 80%, and no election in Alberta has come close to this mark.

This election campaign is seen as the most negative in Alberta's history, with reports of Social Credit members, operating openly and on William Aberhart's directives, defacing the campaign signs of opponents and drowning their speeches by honking car horns. Many campaign ads also focused mostly on attacking the opposing parties.

After the 1935 election results were in, newspapers across North America took notice, with the Boston Globe running the headline ALBERTA GOES CRAZY! Historians note that this election was the biggest single electoral shift in North American history. [citation needed]

This shift marked the first in the Social Credit's nine back to back election victories.

[edit] Results

Party Party Leader # of
candidates
Seats Popular Vote
1930 Elected % Change # % % Change
     Social Credit
William Aberhart
63   56   163,700 54.25%  
     Liberal
William Howson
61 11 5 -54.5% 69,845 23.14% -1.45%
     Conservative
David Milwyn Duggan
39 6 2 -66.7% 19,358 6.41% -8.44%
     United Farmers
Richard G. Reid
45 39 - -100% 33,063 11.00% -28.41%
     Communist 9   -   5,771 1.91%  
     Labour
Fred White
11 4 - -100% 5,086 1.68% -5.95%
     Independent 7 3 - -100% 2,740 0.90% -12.62%
     Independent Liberal 1   -   955 0.31%  
     United Front 1   -   560 0.19%  
     Independent Conservative 1   -   258 0.08%  
     Independent Labour 1   -   224 0.07%  
     Economic Reconstruction
Elsie Wright
1   -   192 0.06%  
Total 240 63 63 - 301,752 100%
 
Source: Elections Alberta

[edit] Members elected

For complete electoral history, see individual districts

8th Alberta Legislative Assembly
  District Member Party
     Acadia Norman James Social Credit
     Alexandria Selmer Berg Social Credit
     Athabasca Clarence Tade Social Credit
     Beaver River Lucien Maynard Social Credit
     Bow Valley Wilson Cain Social Credit
     Calgary #1 Edith H. Gostick Social Credit
     Calgary #2 Ernest Manning Social Credit
     Calgary #3 John Irwin Conservative
     Calgary #4 Fred Anderson Social Credit
     Calgary #5 John J. Bowlen Liberal
     Calgary #6 John Hugill Social Credit
     Camrose William Chant Social Credit
     Cardston Nathan Eldon Tanner Social Credit
     Clover Bar Floyd Baker Social Credit
     Cochrane William Riking Social Credit
     Coronation Glenville MacLachlan Social Credit
     Cypress August Flamme Social Credit
     Didsbury Edward P. Foster Social Credit
     Drumheller Herbert Ingrey Social Credit
     Edmonton #1 William Howson Liberal
     Edmonton #2 Samuel Barnes Social Credit
     Edmonton #3 George Van Allen Liberal
     Edmonton #4 David Milwyn Duggan Conservative
     Edmonton #5 David Mullen Social Credit
     Edmonton #6 Gerald O'Connor Liberal
     Edson Joe Unwin Social Credit
     Empress David Lush Social Credit
     Gliechen Issac McCune Social Credit
     Grand Prairie William Sharpe Social Credit
     Grouard Leonidar Giroux Liberal
     Hand Hills Wallace Warren Cross Social Credit
     Innisfail Erskin MacLellan Social Credit
     Lac St. Anne Albert Bourcier Social Credit
     Lacombe Duncan MacMillan Social Credit
     Leduc Ronald Ansley Social Credit
     Lethbridge Hans Wight Social Credit
     Little Bow Peter Dawson Social Credit
     Macleod Jason Hartley Social Credit
     Medicine Hat John L. Robinson Social Credit
     Nanton-Claresholm Harry Haslam Social Credit
     Okotoks-High River William Morrison Social Credit
     Olds Herbert Ash Social Credit
     Peace River William Lampley Social Credit
     Pembina Harry Knowlton Brown Social Credit
     Pincher Creek Roy Taylor Social Credit
     Ponoka Edith Rogers Social Credit
     Red Deer Alfred J. Hooke Social Credit
     Ribstone Albert Blue Social Credit
     Rocky Mountain Ernest Duke Social Credit
     Sedgewick Albert Fee Social Credit
     St. Albert Charles Holder Social Credit
     St. Paul Joseph Beaudry Social Credit
     Stettler Charles Cockroft Social Credit
     Stony Plain William Hayes Social Credit
     Sturgeon James Popil Social Credit
     Taber James Hanson Social Credit
     Vegreville James McPherson Social Credit
     Vermillion William Fallow Social Credit
     Victoria Samuel Calvert Social Credit
     Wainwright William Masson Social Credit
     Warner Solon Low Social Credit
     Wetaskiwin John Wingblade Social Credit
     Whitford William Tomyn Social Credit

[edit] See also


Preceded by
1930 Alberta election
Alberta elections Succeeded by
1940 Alberta election


Alberta General Elections
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