Alberta general election, 1905

Alberta general election, 1905

9 November 1905 (1905-11-09)
25 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta 13 seats were needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Alexander Rutherford R. B. Bennett Party Liberal Conservative Leader since 3 August 1905 1905 Leader's seat Strathcona Calgary Last election 1 9 Seats won 22 3 Popular vote 14,485 9,316 Percentage 57.6% 37.1%
Premier before election Alexander C. Rutherford Liberal Premier-designate Alexander C. Rutherford Liberal

The Alberta general election of 1905 was the first general election held in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on 9 November 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 1 September 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

Note:

1. 2 Liberals contested the Peace River district after the results were voided.
2. Conservative L. Dubuc only contested the original Peace River election.
3. Vote returns for the first Peace River election are not included in totals.

Members of the Legislative Assembly elected

For complete electoral history, see individual districts

Peace River

James Cornwall was declared elected to the Peace River district on election night 1905 for the Liberal Party. The election results were overturned by significant irregularities leaving the seat vacant. A new election was held on 15 February 1906.

Thomas Brick declared his candidacy in the new election for the Liberals after being asked to run by a large group of people who appeared at his homestead. He faced James Cornwall who attempted to re-win his seat and he also ran under the Liberal banner. The runner up candidate from the original 1905 election Conservative candidate Lucien Dubuc did not run again leaving a rare two-way race under the same party banner. Thomas Brick would go on to defeat James Cornwall in a landslide.^[2]

See also

• List of Alberta political parties

References

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 next
Senate nominee elections	1989 1998 2004 2012
Municipal elections	1968 1971 1974 1977 1980 1983 1986 1989 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010 2013 2017
Referendums	1915 1920 1923 1948 1957 1967 1971
See also: List of Alberta by-elections