Gordon Wright (politician)
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Gordon Samuel Dales Wright (died October 18, 1990) was a lawyer who served as a Crown Prosecuter for the Attorney Generals office. He was also former provincial level politician and perennial candidate from Alberta, Canada. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1986 until his death.
[edit] Political career
Wright was a long time NDP supporter. He first joined the Cooperative Commonwealth in the 1950's.[1] He ran for provincial office for the NDP for the first time in the 1967 Alberta general election in the electoral district of Edmonton North. Wright had a strong showing but was defeated finishing third out of fourth by incumbent Social Credit MLA Ethel Wilson.[2]
A year after his defeat he ran against Grant Notley in the 1968 NDP leadership election. He lost to Notely by a margin of 27 votes. He then became President of the party, and also later served numerous other positions on the provincial NDP executive.[1]
In the 1971 Alberta general election. Wright ran for his second time finising third place in a field of three candidates in the Edmonton Belmont electoral district. He finished behind Social Credit candidate Werner Schmidt and Progressive Conservative winner Albert Hohol.[3]
In the 1975 Alberta general election, Wright ran in Edmonton-Strathcona for the first time. He finished a strong second behind incumbent Julian Koziak.[4] He would run against Koziak for the second time in the 1979 Alberta general election this time doubling his popular vote but was unable to defeat him.[5] He would run against Koziak for a third time in the 1982 Alberta general election, Wright would gain anther 2000 votes and come within 500 of defeating him in his closest election yet.[6]
After running five times unsuccessfully and three times in Edmonton-Strathcona, Wright was elected to the Alberta Legislature in the 1986 Alberta general election. He won the two way race and defeated incumbent Progressive Conservative MLA Julian Koziak. There were a total of six candidates running in the Edmonton-Strathcona electoral district but the other four candidates were not factors and trailed well behind in support.[7] Wright would win a his second and final term in the 1989 Alberta general election. All three candidates would have strong showings, Wright easily won the district by a comfortable margin.[8]
He died from Pancreatic Cancer on October 18, 1990.[1]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly of Alberta, November 26, 1990, page 2413
- ^ Edmonton-North election results 1967. Alberta Heritage. Retrieved on 2008-04-14.
- ^ Edmonton-Belmont election results 1971. Alberta Heritage. Retrieved on 2008-04-14.
- ^ Edmonton-Strathcona election results 1975. Alberta Heritage. Retrieved on 2008-04-14.
- ^ Edmonton-Strathcona election results 1979. Alberta Heritage. Retrieved on 2008-04-14.
- ^ Edmonton-Strathcona election results 1982. Alberta Heritage. Retrieved on 2008-04-14.
- ^ Edmonton-Strathcona election results 1986. Alberta Heritage. Retrieved on 2008-04-14.
- ^ Edmonton-Strathcona election results 1989. Alberta Heritage. Retrieved on 2008-04-14.
[edit] External links
| Legislative Assembly of Alberta | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Julian Koziak |
MLA Edmonton-Strathcona 1986-1990 |
Succeeded by Barrie Chivers |
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