# Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills

Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills is a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada. The district is one of 87 districts mandated to return a single member (MLA) to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting.
This riding in south-central Alberta stretches from the Red Deer River in the east to the area around Cremona in the west. Agriculture is the major employer, with retail a distant second. Household incomes, at $53,174, are below the Alberta average. Seven per cent of residents are considered low income. More than two-thirds of the people here were born in Alberta, while seven per cent are immigrants. People of German origin make up nine per cent of the population. More than 96 per cent say their language at home is English, the second-highest rate in Alberta (2001 census). In 2021, National Post columnist Colby Cosh said that the district "might be the single most truculently conservative anywhere" in Canada.

## History

The electoral district was created in the 1996 electoral boundary re-distribution from the old electoral districts of Olds-Didsbury and Three Hills-Airdrie.
In the 2004 electoral boundary re-distribution the boundaries changed somewhat, with an agricultural section in the far west transferred to Banff-Cochrane, while in the southeast a section of the old Drumheller-Chinook riding - including the community of Carbon - was added. Major communities include Olds, Didsbury, Carstairs, Trochu and Three Hills, as well as Olds College. It covers Kneehill County and most of Mountain View County.
The 2010 electoral boundary re-distribution saw the district absorb the northern portions of Airdrie-Chestermere and Foothills-Rocky View which were both abolished and it lost some land on the eastern boundary to Drumheller-Stettler.
The 2017 electoral boundary re-distribution resulted in the expansion of the Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills electoral district to include the northern portion of Wheatland County, formerly part of the Strathmore-Brooks constituency. The resulting population of the district in 2017 was 49,418, 6% above the provincial average population of 46,803.

### Boundary history

69 Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills 2003 boundaries :
| Bordering districts ||||
| North | East | West | South |
| Innisfail-Sylvan Lake | Drumheller-Stettler | Banff-Cochrane, Rocky Mountain House | Airdrie-Chestermere, Foothills-Rocky View, Strathmore-Brooks |
| riding map goes here | riding map goes here | | |
| Legal description from the Statutes of Alberta 2003, Electoral Divisions Act. ||||
| Starting at the east boundary of Rge. 4 W5 with the north boundary of Sec. 7 in Twp. 34, Rge. 3 W5; then 1. east along the north boundary of Secs. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 in the Twp. and Secs. 7, 8, 9 and 10 in Twp. 34, Rge. 2 W5 to the east boundary of Sec. 10; 2. south along the east boundary of Sec. 10 to the north boundary of Sec. 2; 3. east along the north boundary of Sec. 2 to the east boundary of Sec. 2; 4. south along the east boundary of Sec. 2 to the north boundary of Twp. 33; 5. east along the north boundary of Twp. 33 to the east boundary of Rge. 28 W4; 6. north along the east boundary of Rge. 28 W4 to the north boundary of Sec. 6 in Twp. 34, Rge. 27 W4; 7. east along the north boundary of Secs. 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 in Rge. 27 W4 and the north boundary of Secs. 6 and 5 in Rge. 26 W4 to the east boundary of Sec. 8; 8. north along the east boundary of Secs. 8, 17, 20 and 29 to the north boundary of Sec. 28 in the Twp.; 9. east along the north boundary of Secs. 28, 27, 26 and 25 in the Twp. and the north boundary of Secs. 30, 29 and 28 in Twp. 34, Rge. 25 W4 to the east boundary of Sec. 33 in the Twp.; 10. north along the east boundary to the north boundary of Twp. 34; 11. west along the north boundary to the east boundary of Sec. 3 in Twp. 35, Rge. 25 W4; 12. north along the east boundary to the north boundary of Sec. 2 in the Twp.; 13. east along the north boundary of Secs. 2 and 1 in the Twp. and the north boundary of Secs. 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 in Twp. 35, Rge. 24 W4 to the east boundary of Rge. 24 W4; 14. south along the east boundary to the north boundary of Twp. 34; 15. east along the north boundary to the right bank of the Red Deer River; 16. downstream along the right bank to the west boundary of the Town of Drumheller; 17. in a generally southeasterly direction along the west boundary of the Town of Drumheller to the north boundary of Sec. 1, Twp. 28, Rge. 20 W4; 18. west along the north boundary of Sec. 1 to the east boundary of the west half of Sec. 1; 19. south along the east boundary of the west half of Sec. 1 to the intersection with the Canadian National Railway (CNR) right-of-way; 20. in a southwesterly direction along the CNR right-of-way to the east boundary of Sec. 21, Twp. 27, Rge. 21 W4; 21. north along the east boundary of Secs. 21, 28 and 33 in the Twp. and the east boundary of Secs. 4 and 9 in Twp. 28 to the north boundary of Sec. 9 in Twp. 28, Rge. 21 W4; 22. west along the north boundary of Secs. 9, 8 and 7 in the Twp. and Secs. 12, 11, 10, 9, 8 and 7 in Twp. 27, Rges. 22, 23 and 24 to the east boundary of Rge. 25 W4; 23. north along the east boundary to the north boundary of Twp. 28; 24. west along the north boundary to the east boundary of Rge. 28 W4; 25. north along the east boundary to the north boundary of Sec. 1 in Twp. 29, Rge. 28 W4; 26. west along the north boundary of Secs. 1, 2, 3 and 4 to the east boundary of Sec. 8 in the Twp.; 27. north along the east boundary of Secs. 8 and 17 to the north boundary of Sec. 17 in the Twp.; 28. west along the north boundary of Secs. 17 and 18 in the Twp. and the north boundary of Secs. 13, 14 and 15 in Twp. 29, Rge. 29 W4 and the north boundary of Secs. 13, 14 and 15 in Twp. 29, Rge. 1 W5 to the east boundary of Sec. 16 in the Twp.; 29. south along the east boundary to the north boundary of Sec. 9 in the Twp.; 30. west along the north boundary of Secs. 9, 8 and 7 in the Twp. and the north boundary of Secs. 12 and 11 in Twp. 29, Rge. 2 W5 to the east boundary of Sec. 10 in the Twp.; 31. south along the east boundary of Secs. 10 and 3 in the Twp. to the north boundary of Twp. 28; 32. west along the north boundary to the east boundary of Rge. 6 W5; 33. north along the east boundary to the north boundary of Sec. 13 in Twp. 29, Rge. 6 W5; 34. west along the north boundary to the east boundary of the west half of Sec. 24 in the Twp.; 35. north along the east boundary of the west half of Sec. 24 to the north boundary of the south half of Sec. 24; 36. west along the north boundary of the south half of Sec. 24 to the east boundary of Sec. 23 in the Twp.; 37. north along the east boundary of Sec. 23 to the north boundary of Sec. 23; 38. west along the north boundary to the east boundary of Sec. 27; 39. north along the east boundary of Secs. 27 and 34 to the north boundary of Twp. 29, Rge. 6 W5; 40. east along the north boundary of the Twp. to the east boundary of Rge. 6 W5; 41. north along the east boundary of Rge. 6 to the north boundary of Twp. 30, Rge. 6 W5; 42. east along the north boundary of Twp. 30 to the intersection with Highway 22; 43. north along Highway 22 to the intersection with Highway 27; 44. east along Highway 27 to the east boundary of Rge. 4 W5; 45. north along the east boundary to the starting point. ||||
| Note: ||||
73 Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills 2010 boundaries :
| Bordering districts ||||
| North | East | West | South |
| Innisfail-Sylvan Lake | Drumheller-Stettler | Banff-Cochrane and Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre | Airdrie, Chestermere-Rocky View and Strathmore-Brooks |
| Note: Boundary descriptions were not used in the 2010 redistribution ||||

### Representation history

Members of the Legislative Assembly for Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills :
| Assembly | Years | Member | Party |
| See Olds-Didsbury 1979-1997 and Three Hills-Airdrie 1993-1997 |||||
| 24th | 1997-2001 | Richard Marz | Progressive Conservative |
| 25th | 2001-2004 | Richard Marz | Progressive Conservative |
| 26th | 2004-2008 | Richard Marz | Progressive Conservative |
| 27th | 2008-2012 | Richard Marz | Progressive Conservative |
| 27th | 2012 | Vacant | Vacant |
| 28th | 2012–2014 | Bruce Rowe | Wildrose |
| 28th | 2014–2015 | Bruce Rowe | Progressive Conservative |
| 29th | 2015–2017 | Nathan Cooper | Wildrose |
| 29th | 2017–2019 | Nathan Cooper | United Conservative |
| 30th | 2019–2023 | Nathan Cooper | United Conservative |
| 31st | 2023– | Nathan Cooper | United Conservative |
Right-leaning parties have fared well in this riding. Richard Marz, the incumbent, has been the riding's only representative since it was founded. In his first election win in 1997, the runner-up was Social Credit candidate Don MacDonald who had previously served as an MLA under the Liberal banner in the Legislative Assembly from 1992-1993.
Marz achieved a landslide running for his second term in the 2001 election taking over 80% of the popular vote. The 2004 election saw the Alliance Party in a distant second with 16.5%. The 2008 election resulted with Marz increasing his votes by 4.66% over the 2004 results. The Alliance Party changed names to the Wildrose Alliance Party and remained well behind with only 21.03% of the vote. Marz vacated the seat ahead of the 2012 general election on March 16, 2012. Wildrose candidate Bruce Rowe was elected in the 2012 provincial election.

## Legislative election results
### 1997

vte1997 Alberta general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Progressive Conservative | Richard Marz | 6,958 | 57.08% | – |
| | Social Credit | Don MacDonald | 3,422 | 28.07% | – |
| | Liberal | Dave Herbert | 1,562 | 12.81% | – |
| | New Democratic | Anne Wilson | 247 | 2.03% | – |
| Total | Total | Total | 12,189 | – | – |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 29 | – | – |
| Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | 19,830 | 61.76% | – |
| | Progressive Conservative pickup new district. | Progressive Conservative pickup new district. | Progressive Conservative pickup new district. | Progressive Conservative pickup new district. | Progressive Conservative pickup new district. | Progressive Conservative pickup new district. | Progressive Conservative pickup new district. |
| Source(s) Source: "Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills Official Results 1997 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020. |||||||

### 2001

vte2001 Alberta general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Progressive Conservative | Richard Marz | 10,553 | 80.81% | 23.73% |
| | Liberal | Gayleen Roelfsema | 1,663 | 12.73% | -0.08% |
| | Social Credit | Nicholas Semmler | 460 | 3.52% | -24.55% |
| | New Democratic | Brenda L. Dyck | 383 | 2.93% | 0.91% |
| Total | Total | Total | 13,059 | – | – |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 48 | – | – |
| Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | 21,391 | 61.50% | -0.26% |
| | Progressive Conservative hold | Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | Swing | 19.53% |
| Source(s) Source: "Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills Official Results 2001 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020. "Electoral Division of Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills Statement of Official Results" (PDF). Elections Alberta. Retrieved January 26, 2020. |||||||

### 2004

vte2004 Alberta general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Progressive Conservative | Richard Marz | 7,277 | 59.40% | -21.41% |
| | Alberta Alliance | Gordon Quantz | 2,023 | 16.51% | – |
| | Liberal | Tony Vonesch | 1,336 | 10.91% | -1.83% |
| | Separation | Brian Vasseur | 746 | 6.09% | – |
| | Green | Sarah Henckel-Sutmoller | 469 | 3.83% | – |
| | New Democratic | Christopher Davies | 257 | 2.10% | -0.84% |
| | Social Credit | Myrna Kissick | 143 | 1.17% | -2.36% |
| Total | Total | Total | 12,251 | – | – |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 70 | – | – |
| Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | 21,718 | 56.73% | -4.77% |
| | Progressive Conservative hold | Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | Swing | -12.59% |
| Source(s) Source: "Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills Statement of Official Results 2004 Alberta general election" (PDF). Elections Alberta. Retrieved March 27, 2020. |||||||

### 2008

vte2008 Alberta general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Progressive Conservative | Richard Marz | 7,837 | 64.06% | 4.67% |
| | Wildrose | Curt Engel | 2,572 | 21.03% | 4.52% |
| | Liberal | Tony Vonesch | 1,038 | 8.49% | -2.42% |
| | Green | Kate Haddow | 518 | 4.23% | 0.41% |
| | New Democratic | Andy Davies | 268 | 2.19% | 0.09% |
| Total | Total | Total | 12,233 | – | – |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 59 | – | – |
| Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | 24,599 | 49.97% | -6.76% |
| | Progressive Conservative hold | Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | Swing | 0.08% |
| Source(s) Source: "Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills Official Results 2008 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020. |||||||

### 2012

vte2012 Alberta general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Wildrose | Bruce Rowe | 10,182 | 56.54% | 35.51% |
| | Progressive Conservative | Darcy Davis | 6,707 | 37.24% | -26.82% |
| | New Democratic | Kristie Krezanoski | 565 | 3.14% | 0.95% |
| | Liberal | Garth E. Davis | 555 | 3.08% | -5.40% |
| Total | Total | Total | 18,009 | – | – |
| Rejected, spoiled, and declined | Rejected, spoiled, and declined | Rejected, spoiled, and declined | 106 | – | – |
| Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | 29,643 | 61.11% | 11.14% |
| | Wildrose gain from Progressive Conservative | Wildrose gain from Progressive Conservative | Swing | Swing | -11.87% |
| Source(s) Source: "73 - Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills, 2012 Alberta general election". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved May 21, 2020. |||||||

### 2015

vte2015 Alberta general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Wildrose | Nathan Cooper | 10,692 | 53.41% | -3.12% |
| | Progressive Conservative | Wade Bearchell | 5,274 | 26.35% | -10.89% |
| | New Democratic | Glenn R Norman | 3,366 | 16.82% | 13.68% |
| | Alberta Party | Jim Adamchick | 685 | 3.42% | – |
| Total | Total | Total | 20,017 | – | – |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 109 | – | – |
| Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | 33,859 | 59.44% | -1.67% |
| | Wildrose hold | Wildrose hold | Swing | Swing | 3.89% |
| Source(s) Source: "73 - Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills, 2015 Alberta general election". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved May 21, 2020. |||||||

### 2019

vte2019 Alberta general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | United Conservative | Nathan Cooper | 20,516 | 78.55% | -1.21% |
| | New Democratic | Kyle Johnston | 3,070 | 11.75% | -5.06% |
| | Alberta Party | Chase Brown | 1,779 | 6.81% | 3.39% |
| | Freedom Conservative | Allen MacLennan | 557 | 2.13% | – |
| | Alberta Advantage Party | Dave Hughes | 195 | 0.75% | – |
| Total | Total | Total | 26,117 | – | – |
| Rejected, Spoiled and Declined | Rejected, Spoiled and Declined | Rejected, Spoiled and Declined | 120 | – | – |
| Eligible electors / Turnout | Eligible electors / Turnout | Eligible electors / Turnout | 36,375 | 72.13% | 12.69% |
| | United Conservative notional hold | United Conservative notional hold | Swing | Swing | 19.87% |
| Source(s) Source: "76 - Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills, 2019 Alberta general election". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved May 21, 2020. |||||||

### 2023

vte2023 Alberta general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | United Conservative | Nathan Cooper | 18,228 | 75.29 | -3.26 |
| | New Democratic | Cheryl Hunter Loewen | 4,553 | 18.81 | +7.05 |
| | Alberta Independence | Katherine Kowalchuk | 1,140 | 4.71 | – |
| | Wildrose Loyalty Coalition | Cam Tatlock | 183 | 0.76 | – |
| | Solidarity Movement | Judy Bridges | 105 | 0.43 | – |
| Total | Total | Total | 24,209 | 99.43 | – |
| Rejected and declined | Rejected and declined | Rejected and declined | 138 | 0.57 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 24,347 | 62.13 |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 39,185 |
| | United Conservative hold | United Conservative hold | Swing | Swing | -5.16 |
| Source(s) Source: Elections Alberta |||||||

## Senate nominee election results
### 2004

| 2004 Senate nominee election results: Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills | 2004 Senate nominee election results: Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills | 2004 Senate nominee election results: Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills | 2004 Senate nominee election results: Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills | 2004 Senate nominee election results: Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills | Turnout 56.98% | Turnout 56.98% |
| | Affiliation | Candidate | Votes | % votes | % ballots | Rank |
| | Progressive Conservative | Bert Brown | 6,517 | 19.24% | 59.43% | 1 |
| | Progressive Conservative | Betty Unger | 4,721 | 13.94% | 43.05% | 2 |
| | Progressive Conservative | Jim Silye | 3,687 | 10.89% | 33.62% | 5 |
| | Independent | Link Byfield | 3,483 | 10.28% | 31.76% | 4 |
| | Progressive Conservative | Cliff Breitkreuz | 3,439 | 10.15% | 31.36% | 3 |
| | Progressive Conservative | David Usherwood | 2,969 | 8.77% | 27.08% | 6 |
| | Alberta Alliance | Vance Gough | 2,816 | 8.31% | 25.68% | 8 |
| | Alberta Alliance | Michael Roth | 2,500 | 7.38% | 22.80% | 7 |
| | Alberta Alliance | Gary Horan | 2,263 | 6.68% | 20.64% | 10 |
| | Independent | Tom Sindlinger | 1,478 | 4.36% | 13.48% | 9 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 33,873 | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| Total ballots | Total ballots | Total ballots | 10,966 | 3.09 votes per ballot | 3.09 votes per ballot | 3.09 votes per ballot |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 1,409 | 1,409 | 1,409 | 1,409 |
Voters had the option of selecting four candidates on the ballot

### 2012
## Student vote results
### 2004

* Participating schools
* Acme School
* Carbon School
* Didsbury High School
* Dr. Elliott School
* Prairie Christian Academy
* Three Hills School
* Trochu Valley School
* Westglen School
On November 19, 2004 a student vote was conducted at participating Alberta schools to parallel the 2004 Alberta general election results. The vote was designed to educate students and simulate the electoral process for persons who have not yet reached the legal majority. The vote was conducted in 80 of the 83 provincial electoral districts with students voting for actual election candidates. Schools with a large student body that reside in another electoral district had the option to vote for candidates outside of the electoral district then where they were physically located.
2004 Alberta student vote results :
| | Affiliation | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Progressive Conservative | Richard Marz | 449 | 42.20% |
| | Green | Sarah Henckel-Sutmoller | 170 | 15.98% |
| | Alberta Alliance | Gordon Quantz | 154 | 14.47% |
| | Liberal | Tony Vonesch | 120 | 11.28% |
| | Separation | Brian Vasseur | 109 | 10.24% |
| | NDP | Christopher Davies | 41 | 3.85% |
| | Social Credit | Myrna Kissick | 21 | 1.98% |
| Total | Total | Total | 1,064 | 100% |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 19 | 19 |

### 2012

2012 Alberta Student Vote results :
| | Affiliation | Candidate | % |
| | Progressive Conservative | Darcy Davis | % |
| | Wildrose | Bruce Rowe |
| | Alberta Party | | % |
| | NDP | Kristie Krezanoski | % |
| Total | Total | Total | 100% |