# Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta leadership elections

This page lists the results of leadership elections held by the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta or as it was known before 1958, the Conservatives.

## 1905 leadership convention

(Held on August 16, 1905)
* R.B. Bennett acclaimed

## Developments 1905-1923

Bennett was defeated in the 1905 general election and Albert Robertson was chosen House leader. Robertson in turn was defeated in the 1909 general election. Afterwards, Bennett, who had been elected, became House leader. Bennett resigned in 1910 and Edward Michener became House leader on July 5. Michener resigned after the 1917 general election when he was appointed to the Senate. George Hoadley was chosen House leader on February 8, 1918. He was removed on February 17, 1920 in favour of James Ramsey. Ramsey was in turn ousted in 1921 in favour of Albert Ewing and the Conservative caucus was split. After the Conservative Party's disastrous performance in the 1921 general election the only Conservative left in the legislature was the independent John Smith Stewart.

## 1923 leadership convention

(Held on December 14, 1923)
* William John Blair acclaimed
R.B. Bennett, Albert Ewing, and Alexander McGillivray were nominated but declined.

## 1925 leadership convention

(Held on August 5, 1925)
* Alexander McGillivray acclaimed

## 1930 leadership convention

(Held on January 11, 1930)
* David Milwyn Duggan acclaimed
John Irwin and Charles Yardley Weaver were nominated but withdrew.

## Developments 1930-1958

The Conservatives joined a united front with the Liberals in 1937 to defeat the Social Credit government and formed the Independent Movement. As such they stood no candidates in the 1940 election, the 1944 election, and the 1948 election. Duggan was re-elected as an independent in 1940 and died on May 4, 1942. The party was revived in the 1952 election and John Percy Page was chosen House leader afterwards.

## 1958 leadership convention

(Held on August 16, 1958)
First Ballot:
* William Cameron Kirby 150
* Alan Lazerte 106
* Ernest Watkins 69
* Ernest A. Toshach 40
* Gifford Main 30
Second Ballot:
* William Cameron Kirby 163
* Alan Lazerte 128
* Ernest Watkins 56
* Ernest A. Toshach 32
* Gifford Main 18
Third Ballot (Main eliminated):
* William Cameron Kirby 189
* Alan Lazerte 148
* Ernest Watkins 46
* Ernest A. Toshach 14
Fourth Ballot (Toshach eliminated):
* William Cameron Kirby 206
* Alan Lazerte 157
* Ernest Watkins 32

## 1962 leadership convention

(Held October 6, 1962)
* Milt Harradence elected
* Ernest A. Toshach
* Ernest Watkins eliminated on first ballot.
(Harradence elected on the second ballot by less than 20 votes. Harradence and Toshach were separated by only one vote on the first ballot. About 300 votes were cast in total. Vote totals were not released).

## 1965 leadership convention

(Held March 20, 1965)
* Peter Lougheed 300
* Duncan McKillop 30
Jon Scott withdrew before balloting.

## 1985 leadership convention

(Held on October 13, 1985)
First Ballot:
* Don Getty 913
* Julian Koziak 545
* Ron Ghitter 428
Second Ballot (Ghitter eliminated):
* Don Getty 1061
* Julian Koziak 827

## 1992 leadership election

First Ballot:
(Held on November 28, 1992)
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage |
| Nancy Betkowski | 16,393 | 31.10% |
| Ralph Klein | 16,392 | 31.09% |
| Rick Orman | 7,649 | 14.51% |
| Doug Main | 5,053 | 9.59% |
| John Oldring | 2,789 | 5.29% |
| Lloyd Quantz | 1,488 | 2.82% |
| Ruben Nelson | 1,250 | 2.37% |
| Elaine McCoy | 1,115 | 2.12% |
| David King | 587 | 1.11% |
| Total | 52,716 | 100.00% |
Second Ballot (Betkowski, Klein, Orman moved to next round and Orman withdrew November 29):
(Held on December 5, 1992)
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage |
| Ralph Klein | 46,245 | 59.10% |
| Nancy Betkowski | 31,722 | 40.54% |
| Rick Orman | 284 | 0.36% |
| Total | 78,251 | 100.00% |

## 2006 leadership election

First Ballot:
(Held on November 25, 2006)
| Name | Votes | Percent |
| Jim Dinning | 29,470 | 30.17% |
| Ted Morton | 25,614 | 26.22% |
| Ed Stelmach | 14,967 | 15.32% |
| Lyle Oberg | 11,638 | 11.91% |
| Dave Hancock | 7,595 | 7.77% |
| Mark Norris | 6,789 | 6.95% |
| Victor Doerksen | 873 | 0.89% |
| Gary McPherson | 744 | 0.76% |
| Total | 97,690 | 100.00% |
Second Ballot (Dinning, Morton and Stelmach move to next round):
(Note: used a preferential ballot)
(Held on December 2, 2006)
| | Second Ballot | Second Ballot | Third Ballot | Third Ballot |
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Votes | Percentage |
| Ed Stelmach | 51,764 | 35.88% | 77,577 | 58.29% |
| Jim Dinning | 51,282 | 35.54% | 55,509 | 41.71% |
| Ted Morton | 41,243 | 28.58% | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| Total | 144,289 | 100.00% | 133,086 | 100.00% |
On the third Ballot Morton was eliminated, and vote distributed.

## 2011 leadership election
### First ballot

The first ballot was on September 17, 2011.
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage |
| Gary Mar | 24,195 | 40.76 |
| Alison Redford | 11,127 | 18.74 |
| Doug Horner | 8,635 | 14.55 |
| Ted Morton | 6,962 | 11.73 |
| Rick Orman | 6,005 | 10.12 |
| Doug Griffiths | 2,435 | 4.10 |
| Total | 59,359 | 100.00 |
Two days following the first ballot, Morton and Orman decided to endorse Mar. Griffiths followed the next day.

### Second ballot

A preferential ballot was cast on October 1, 2011. Because no candidate received more than 50% of the vote on the first count, the third-place finisher was dropped, and the second preference votes cast on Horner's ballots were counted and added to the remaining candidate's totals. Mar led after the first round, and Horner was eliminated. After second preferences were applied, Redford was declared the winner.
| Candidate | Round 1 | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 2 |
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Votes | Percentage |
| Alison Redford | 28,993 | 37.09 | 37,101 | 51.11 |
| Gary Mar | 33,233 | 42.51 | 35,491 | 48.89 |
| Doug Horner | 15,950 | 20.40 | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| Total | 78,176 | 100.00 | 72,592 | 100.00 |

## 2014 leadership election

(Held on September 6, 2014)
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage |
| Jim Prentice | 17,963 | 76.81 |
| Ric McIver | 2,742 | 11.72 |
| Thomas Lukaszuk | 2,681 | 11.46 |
| Total | 23,386 | 100.00 |

## 2017 leadership election

(Held March 18, 2017 at the Telus Convention Centre in Calgary)
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage |
| Jason Kenney | 1,113 | 75.4% |
| Richard Starke | 323 | 21.9% |
| Byron Nelson | 40 | 2.7% |
| Total | 1,476 | 100% |
Spoiled ballots: 3