# Craig Cheffins

Craig Cheffins is a former member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for the Calgary-Elbow riding. Running as a Liberal, he won the seat in a 2007 by-election, but lost the seat in the 2008 general election.

## Political life

A by-election was called to replace former premier Ralph Klein, who vacated the seat, after retiring as premier of Alberta. He was considered a "prime candidate" in the by-election, according to Don Braid, of the Calgary Herald., and won the by-election by approximately 800 votes. The constituency had previously elected Progressive Conservative candidates in every election and by-election since 1971.
Previously Cheffins was the president of the Calgary community of Lakeview and involved in the West Hillhurst community associations. He was also active in prior Liberal party campaigns.
Cheffins was an active member of the Weaselhead Preservation Society.
Cheffins lost the provincial election on March 3, 2008.
On September 11, 2008 Craig Cheffins announced he was supporting Dave Taylor for the leadership of the Alberta Liberal Party, and would be taking on the role of Campaign Co-Chair for that effort.

## Election results

vte2008 Alberta general election: Calgary-Elbow :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Progressive Conservative | Alison Redford | 6,130 | 42.08 | +3.75 |
| | Liberal | Craig Cheffins | 5,711 | 39.20 | −6.57 |
| | Wildrose Alliance | Dale Nelson | 963 | 6.61 | +2.44 |
| | Independent | Barry Erskine | 948 | 6.51 |
| | Green | Jonathon Sheffield | 526 | 3.61 | −1.99 |
| | New Democratic | Garnet Wilcox | 290 | 1.99 | −1.31 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 14,568 | 100.00 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 77 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 14,645 | 45.84 |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 31,947 |
| | Progressive Conservative gain from Liberal | Progressive Conservative gain from Liberal | Swing | Swing | +5.16% |
vteAlberta provincial by-election, June 12, 2007: Calgary-Elbow Resignation of Ralph Klein on January 15, 2007 :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Craig Cheffins | 4,823 | 45.77 | +9.24 |
| | Progressive Conservative | Brian Heninger | 4,039 | 38.33 | −13.15 |
| | Green | George Read | 590 | 5.60 | +0.66 |
| | Alberta Alliance | Jane Morgan | 439 | 4.17 | +0.56 |
| | New Democratic | Al Brown | 348 | 3.30 | +0.75 |
| | Social Credit | Trevor Grover | 175 | 1.66 | +1.15 |
| | Independent | Jeff Willerton | 124 | 1.17 | — |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 10,538 | — | — |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 13 | 25 | 3 |
| Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | 30,538 | 34.64 | — |
| | Liberal gain from Progressive Conservative | Liberal gain from Progressive Conservative | Swing | Swing | +11.20 |
| Source(s) Alberta. Chief Electoral Officer (2007). Report on the June 12, 2007 By-elections: Calgary-Elbow & Drumheller-Stettler (Report). Edmonton: Legislative Assembly of Alberta; Chief Electoral Officer. Retrieved 20 April 2021. |||||||

## Career

Cheffins' employer at the time of the 2007 by-election was Mount Royal College (MRC), where he was the Work Experience Coordinator of the Justice Studies department.