# Cypress-Medicine Hat

Cypress-Medicine Hat is a provincial electoral district in the southeast corner of Alberta.
Under the Alberta electoral boundary re-distribution of 2004, the constituency covers the portion of Medicine Hat south of the South Saskatchewan River, the Trans-Canada Highway and Carry Drive. The rest of the city is part of the Medicine Hat constituency, which Cypress-Medicine Hat surrounds. The constituency borders Saskatchewan to the east and Montana to the south. Clockwise from the Montana border, the district also borders Cardston-Taber-Warner, Little Bow, Strathmore-Brooks and Drumheller-Stettler. Other major towns include Bow Island and Redcliff. The constituency represents Cypress County and the County of Forty Mile No. 8.
The MLA for this district is the United Conservative Party's Justin Wright. Prior to 2023 the district was represented by Drew Barnes, who was first elected in 2012 as a Wildrose Party candidate in the 28th Alberta general election.

## History

The electoral district was created in the 1993 boundary redistribution from the old electoral district of Cypress-Redcliff.
The 2010 boundary redistribution saw only minor changes made in the middle of the riding to align with changes to the Medicine Hat city limits.

### Boundary history

50 Cypress-Medicine Hat 2003 boundaries :
| Bordering districts |||||
| North | East | Middle | West | South |
| Drumheller-Stettler | Saskatchewan boundary | Medicine Hat | Cardston-Taber-Warner, Little Bow and Strathmore-Brooks | Montana boundary |
| riding map goes here | 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. 11 W4 and the north boundary of Sec. 18, Twp. 20, Rge. 10 W4; then 1. east along the north boundary of Secs. 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13 in Rges. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4 and 3 to the east boundary of Rge. 3 W4; 2. south along the east boundary of Rge. 3 W4 to the right bank of the South Saskatchewan River; 3. downstream along the right bank of the river to the east boundary of the Province; 4. south and west along the boundary of the Province to the east boundary of Rge. 11 in Twp. 1 W4; 5. north along the east boundary to the right bank of the Milk River; 6. upstream along the right bank of the Milk River to the east boundary of Sec. 20 in Twp. 2, Rge. 11 W4; 7. north along the east boundary of Secs. 20, 29 and 32 in the Twp. and along the east boundary of Secs. 5, 8, 17, 20, 29 and 32 in Twp. 3 to the north boundary of Twp. 3; 8. west along the north boundary to the east boundary of Rge. 14 W4; 9. north along the east boundary to the north boundary of Twp. 4; 10. west along the north boundary to the east boundary of Rge. 15 W4; 11. north along the east boundary to the north boundary of Sec. 18 in Twp. 7, Rge. 14 W4; 12. east along the north boundary of Secs. 18, 17 and 16 in the Twp. to the east boundary of Sec. 16 in the Twp.; 13. south along the east boundary to the north boundary of the south half of Sec. 15 in the Twp.; 14. east along the north boundary of the south half of Secs. 15 and 14 to the east boundary of Sec. 14 in the Twp.; 15. south along the east boundary to the north boundary of Sec. 12 in the Twp.; 16. east along the north boundary to the east boundary of Rge. 14 W4; 17. south along the east boundary to the north boundary of the south half of Sec. 7 in Twp. 7, Rge. 13 W4; 18. east along the north boundary of the south half of Secs. 7, 8 and 9 to the east boundary of Sec. 9 in the Twp.; 19. south along the east boundary to the north boundary of Sec. 3 in the Twp.; 20. east along the north boundary to the east boundary of Sec. 3 in the Twp.; 21. south along the east boundary to the north boundary of the south half of Sec. 2 in the Twp.; 22. east along the north boundary of the south half of Secs. 2 and 1 to the east boundary of Rge. 13 W4; 23. north along the east boundary to the right bank of the South Saskatchewan River; 24. upstream along the right bank of the South Saskatchewan River to the right bank of the Bow River; 25. upstream along the right bank of the Bow River to the north boundary of Twp. 13; 26. east along the north boundary to the east boundary of Rge. 11 W4; 27. north along the east boundary of Rge. 11 to the starting point; excluding the Electoral Division of Medicine Hat. |||||
| Note: ||||
55 Cypress-Medicine Hat 2010 boundaries :
| Bordering districts |||||
| North | East | Middle | West | South |
| Drumheller-Stettler | Saskatchewan boundary | Medicine Hat | Cardston-Taber-Warner, Little Bow and Strathmore-Brooks | Montana boundary |
| Legal description from the Statutes of Alberta 2010, Electoral Divisions Act. |||||
| Note: |||||

### Representation history

Members of the Legislative Assembly for Cypress-Medicine Hat :
| Assembly | Years | Member | Party |
| Riding created from Cypress-Redcliff and Medicine Hat |||||
| 23rd | 1993-1997 | Lorne Taylor | Progressive Conservative |
| 24th | 1997-2001 | Lorne Taylor | Progressive Conservative |
| 25th | 2001-2004 | Lorne Taylor | Progressive Conservative |
| 26th | 2004-2008 | Leonard Mitzel | Progressive Conservative |
| 27th | 2008-2012 | Leonard Mitzel | Progressive Conservative |
| 28th | 2012–2015 | Drew Barnes | Wildrose |
| 29th | 2015–2017 | Drew Barnes | Wildrose |
| 29th | 2017-2019 | Drew Barnes | United Conservative |
| 30th | 2019–2021 | Drew Barnes | United Conservative |
| 30th | 2021–2023 | Drew Barnes | Independent |
| 31st | 2023– | Justin Wright | United Conservative |
The electoral district was created in the boundary redistribution of 1993 from the old Cypress-Redcliff riding. The biggest change was the inclusion of parts of Medicine Hat that resulted in the name change.
The first election in the district held in 1993 was won by Progressive Conservative candidate Lorne Taylor who won with a comfortable margin defeating three other candidates. He won his second term with a stronger majority in 1997. Premier Ralph Klein promoted him to the cabinet and held a few portfolio's after that election. He won a third term in 2001 before retiring in 2004.
The second member for the district was Leonard Mitzel who was elected to his first term in the 2004 election. He was re-elected in 2008 with a landslide.
In the 2012 Alberta general election Wildrose candidate Drew Barnes defeated Progressive Conservative incumbent Leonard Mitzel. Barnes captured 53.6 per cent of the vote. Barnes was subsequently reelected in 2015 capturing 54.5 per cent of the vote. In 2017 the Barnes became a member of the United Conservative Party when the Wildrose Party merged with the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta. Barnes was subsequently reelected in 2019, capturing 67.1 per cent of the popular vote. On May 13, 2021, Barnes and Central Peace-Notley MLA Todd Loewen were expelled from the United Conservative caucus to sit as an independents.

## Legislative election results
### 1993

1993 Alberta general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Progressive Conservative | Lorne Taylor | 4,034 | 49.30% | – |
| | Liberal | Lloyd B. Robinson | 2,799 | 34.21% | – |
| | Social Credit | Al Strom | 855 | 10.45% | – |
| | New Democratic | James Ridley | 494 | 6.04% | – |
| Total | Total | Total | 8,182 | – | – |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 33 | – | – |
| Eligible electors / Turnout | Eligible electors / Turnout | Eligible electors / Turnout | 13,688 | 60.02% | – |
| | 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: "Cypress-Medicine Hat Official Results 1993 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020. |||||||

### 1997

1997 Alberta general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Progressive Conservative | Lorne Taylor | 5,754 | 63.36% | 14.05% |
| | Liberal | Beverley Britton Clarke | 2,217 | 24.41% | -9.80% |
| | Social Credit | Maurice Perron | 728 | 8.02% | -2.43% |
| | New Democratic | Don Crisall | 383 | 4.22% | -1.82% |
| Total | Total | Total | 9,082 | – | – |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 21 | 29 | 4 |
| Eligible electors / Turnout | Eligible electors / Turnout | Eligible electors / Turnout | 17,779 | 51.22% | -8.79% |
| | Progressive Conservative hold | Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | Swing | 11.93% |
| Source(s) Source: "Cypress-Medicine Hat Official Results 1997 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020. |||||||

### 2001

2001 Alberta general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Progressive Conservative | Lorne Taylor | 7,222 | 72.99% | 9.64% |
| | Liberal | Beverley Britton Clarke | 2,074 | 20.96% | -3.45% |
| | New Democratic | Cliff Anten | 598 | 6.04% | 1.83% |
| Total | Total | Total | 9,894 | – | – |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 38 | 14 | 0 |
| Eligible electors / Turnout | Eligible electors / Turnout | Eligible electors / Turnout | 19,878 | 49.96% | -1.26% |
| | Progressive Conservative hold | Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | Swing | 6.54% |
| Source(s) Source: "Cypress-Medicine Hat Official Results 2001 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020. |||||||

### 2004

2004 Alberta general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Progressive Conservative | Leonard Mitzel | 4,628 | 54.95% | -18.04% |
| | Liberal | Stuart Angle | 2,222 | 26.38% | 5.42% |
| | Alberta Alliance | Dan H. Pierson | 652 | 7.74% | – |
| | Social Credit | Eric Solberg | 562 | 6.67% | – |
| | New Democratic | Cliff Anten | 358 | 4.25% | -1.79% |
| Total | Total | Total | 8,422 | – | – |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 52 | 29 | 6 |
| Eligible electors / Turnout | Eligible electors / Turnout | Eligible electors / Turnout | 22,181 | 38.23% | -11.73% |
| | Progressive Conservative hold | Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | Swing | -11.73% |
| Source(s) Source: "00 - Cypress-Medicine Hat, 2004 Alberta general election". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved May 21, 2020. |||||||

### 2008

2008 Alberta general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Progressive Conservative | Leonard Mitzel | 5,640 | 63.34% | 8.39% |
| | Liberal | Richard (Dick) Mastel | 2,023 | 22.72% | -3.66% |
| | Wildrose Alliance | Dan H. Pierson | 679 | 7.63% | -0.09% |
| | New Democratic | Manuel Martinez | 347 | 3.90% | -0.35% |
| | Green | Bright Pryde | 215 | 2.41% | – |
| Total | Total | Total | 8,904 | – | – |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 8 | 38 | 24 |
| Eligible electors / Turnout | Eligible electors / Turnout | Eligible electors / Turnout | 25,035 | 35.69% | -2.54% |
| | Progressive Conservative hold | Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | Swing | 6.03% |
| Source(s) Source: "50 - Cypress-Medicine Hat, 2008 Alberta general election". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved May 21, 2020. |||||||

### 2012

vte2012 Alberta general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Wildrose Alliance | Drew Barnes | 7,098 | 53.60% | 45.97% |
| | Progressive Conservative | Leonard Mitzel | 4,738 | 35.78% | -27.56% |
| | Liberal | Jon Mastel | 770 | 5.81% | -16.91% |
| | New Democratic | Manuel Martinez | 637 | 4.81% | 0.91% |
| Total | Total | Total | 13,243 | – | – |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 75 | 47 | 5 |
| Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | 26,199 | 50.85% | 15.16% |
| | Wildrose Alliance gain from Progressive Conservative | Wildrose Alliance gain from Progressive Conservative | Swing | Swing | -11.40% |
| Source(s) Source: "55 - Cypress-Medicine Hat, 2012 Alberta general election". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved May 21, 2020. |||||||

### 2015

2015 Alberta general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Wildrose | Drew Barnes | 8,544 | 54.55% | 0.95% |
| | Progressive Conservative | Bob Olson | 3,389 | 21.64% | -14.14% |
| | New Democratic | Bev Waege | 3,201 | 20.44% | 15.63% |
| | Liberal | Eric Musekamp | 528 | 3.37% | -2.44% |
| Total | Total | Total | 15,662 | – | – |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 38 | 33 | 3 |
| Eligible electors / Turnout | Eligible electors / Turnout | Eligible electors / Turnout | 29,694 | 52.88% | 2.03% |
| | Wildrose hold | Wildrose hold | Swing | Swing | 7.55% |
| Source(s) Source: "55 - Cypress-Medicine Hat, 2015 Alberta general election". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved May 21, 2020. |||||||
2015 Alberta general election redistributed results :
| Party | Party | Votes | % |
| | Wildrose | 8,861 | 44.32 |
| | New Democratic | 5,765 | 28.84 |
| | Progressive Conservative | 4,284 | 21.43 |
| | Liberal | 360 | 1.80 |
| | Alberta Party | 335 | 1.68 |
| | Independent | 85 | 0.43 |
| Source(s) Source: Ridingbuilder ||||

### 2019

vte2019 Alberta general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | United Conservative | Drew Barnes | 16,483 | 67.06 | +1.31 |
| | New Democratic | Peter Mueller | 6,396 | 26.02 | -2.82 |
| | Alberta Party | Colette Smithers | 1,122 | 4.56 | +2.89 |
| | Alberta Advantage Party | Terry Blacquier | 359 | 1.46 | – |
| | Liberal | Anwar Kamaran | 219 | 0.89 | -0.91 |
| Total | Total | Total | 24,579 | 99.35 | – |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 162 | 0.65 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 24,741 | 67.60 |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 36,597 |
| | United Conservative notional hold | United Conservative notional hold | Swing | Swing | +2.06 |
| Source(s) Source: "57 - Cypress-Medicine Hat, 2019 Alberta general election". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved May 21, 2020. Alberta. Chief Electoral Officer (2019). 2019 General Election. A Report of the Chief Electoral Officer. Volume II (PDF) (Report). Vol. 2. Edmonton, Alta.: Elections Alberta. pp. 249–254. ISBN 978-1-988620-12-1. Retrieved April 7, 2021. |||||||

### 2023

vte2023 Alberta general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | United Conservative | Justin Wright | 13,489 | 61.89 | -5.17 |
| | New Democratic | Cathy Hogg | 7,697 | 35.32 | +9.29 |
| | Wildrose Loyalty Coalition | Matt Orr | 322 | 1.48 | – |
| | Alberta Independence | Cody Ray Both | 287 | 1.32 | – |
| Total | Total | Total | 21,795 | 99.44 | – |
| Rejected and declined | Rejected and declined | Rejected and declined | 122 | 0.56 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 21,917 | 53.18 |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 41,209 |
| | United Conservative hold | United Conservative hold | Swing | Swing | -7.23 |
| Source(s) Source: Elections Alberta |||||||

## Senate nominee election results
### 2004

| 2004 Senate nominee election results: Cypress-Medicine Hat | 2004 Senate nominee election results: Cypress-Medicine Hat | 2004 Senate nominee election results: Cypress-Medicine Hat | 2004 Senate nominee election results: Cypress-Medicine Hat | 2004 Senate nominee election results: Cypress-Medicine Hat | Turnout 37.92% | Turnout 37.92% |
| | Affiliation | Candidate | Votes | % votes | % ballots | Rank |
| | Progressive Conservative | Bert Brown | 3,412 | 16.23% | 48.80% | 1 |
| | Progressive Conservative | Betty Unger | 3,119 | 14.83% | 44.61% | 2 |
| | Progressive Conservative | Cliff Breitkreuz | 2,399 | 11.41% | 34.31% | 3 |
| | Progressive Conservative | Jim Silye | 2,182 | 10.38% | 31.21% | 5 |
| | Progressive Conservative | David Usherwood | 2,127 | 10.12% | 30.42% | 6 |
| | Independent | Link Byfield | 2,062 | 9.81% | 29.49% | 4 |
| | Alberta Alliance | Michael Roth | 1,678 | 7.98% | 24.00% | 7 |
| | Alberta Alliance | Vance Gough | 1,496 | 7.11% | 21.40% | 8 |
| | Alberta Alliance | Gary Horan | 1,409 | 6.70% | 20.15% | 10 |
| | Independent | Tom Sindlinger | 1,142 | 5.43% | 16.33% | 9 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 21,026 | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| Total ballots | Total ballots | Total ballots | 6,992 | 3.01 votes per ballot | 3.01 votes per ballot | 3.01 votes per ballot |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 1,418 | 1,418 | 1,418 | 1,418 |
Voters had the option of selecting four candidates on the ballot

## Student vote results
### 2004

* Participating schools
* Burdett School
* Eagle Butte High School
* Senator Gershaw School
* Seven Persons School
* St. Mary's School
* St. Michaels'
* Sunrise 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 | Leonard Mitzel | 396 | 57.98% |
| | Liberal | Stuart Angle | 142 | 20.79% |
| | Alberta Alliance | Dan Pierson | 59 | 8.64% |
| | NDP | Cliff Aten | 52 | 7.61% |
| | Social Credit | Eric Solberg | 34 | 4.98% |
| Total | Total | Total | 683 | 100% |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 25 | 25 |