The 2018 Alberta Party leadership election occurred on February 27, 2018. It was triggered when outgoing Alberta Party leader

Greg Clark Gregory David Clark (born 28 August 1967) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities from 7 July 2022 to 6 September 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, he has served as Member of Pa ...

announced on November 18, 2017, that he will be resigning as soon as his successor is chosen. According to published reports, Clark was pushed out by the party's board of directors as a result of a surge of former Progressive Conservatives joining the party following the PC party's merger into the

United Conservative Party The United Conservative Party of Alberta (UCP) is a conservative political party in the province of Alberta, Canada. It was established in July 2017 as a merger between the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta and the Wildrose Party. ...

. While Clark initially stated that he was considering standing again for the leadership, he announced on December 14, 2017, that he will not be a candidate. The election is set to be held on February 27, 2018, after originally being scheduled to be on February 7. There was a $10,000 entry fee, $5,000 of which was a refundable performance bond. The election was conducted using a one member one vote preferential ballot.

Timeline

*November 18, 2017:

announced his resignation so that there can be a leadership election. *December 14, 2017: Clark announces he will not be a candidate. *December 18, 2017: Kara Levis announces her candidacy. *December 30, 2017: Rick Fraser registers his candidacy. *January 10, 2018:

Stephen Mandel Stephen Mandel (born July 18, 1945) is a Canadian politician and leader of the Alberta Party from 2018 to 2019. He previously served as an Alberta cabinet minister from 2014 to 2015 and as mayor of Edmonton, Alberta for three terms from 2004 ...

announces his candidacy. *January 15, 2018, 5 pm: Candidate nomination deadline. *January 24, 2018: Leadership debate held in Edmonton. *February 8, 2018: Leadership debate held in Calgary. *February 12, 2018, noon: Membership deadline. *February 25, 2018, noon: Voting period begins. *February 27, 2018: **noon - Voting period ends. **5 pm - Results announced at the Oasis Centre in Edmonton.

Candidates

* Rick Fraser, MLA for

Calgary-South East Calgary-South East (previously styled Calgary South East) is a provincial electoral district in Calgary, Alberta. It has existed twice, first from 1959 to 1963, and then re-created in 2010. The district is mandated to return a single member to ...

(2012–present) and former Progressive Conservative and United Conservative who resigned from the UCP caucus in September 2017 to sit as an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

. Fraser registered his candidacy on December 30, 2017, and officially announced his candidacy and joined the Alberta Party caucus on January 9, 2018. *Kara Levis, a

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

energy lawyer, announced her candidacy for the leadership on December 18, 2017. *

, former three-term

Mayor of Edmonton This is a list of mayors of Edmonton, a city in Alberta, Canada. Edmonton was incorporated as a town on January 9, 1892, with Matthew McCauley acclaimed as its first mayor during the town's first election, held February 10, 1892. On October 8 ...

(2004–2013), former Progressive Conservative MLA for

Edmonton-Whitemud Edmonton-Whitemud is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, Canada. In 1989, its constituents unseated the Premier of the day, Donald Getty, by voting for Liberal candidate Percy Wickman. The district was rep ...

(2014–2015), and former Minister of Health in the Alberta Government (2014–2015), announced his candidacy on January 10, 2018.

Declined

, the incumbent leader (2013–present) and MLA for

Calgary-Elbow Calgary-Elbow is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, Canada. Its most recent MLA was Doug Schweitzer, who won the seat in the 2019 provincial election. Schweitzer stepped down on August 31, 2022 and the e ...

(2015–present). *Jacob Huffman, a

University of Calgary The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...

student who was previously active with the Alberta Liberals, registered his candidacy on December 5, 2017. Although Huffman registered his candidacy, he did not submit the package in time to qualify for the race. * Karen McPherson, MLA for Calgary-Mackay-Nose Hill (2015–present), elected as an NDP MLA, crossed the floor and joined the Alberta Party caucus in 2017.

Results

{, class="wikitable" , - ! Candidate ! Votes ! Percentage , - ,

, style="text-align:right", 3,046 , style="text-align:right", 66.03% , - , Kara Levis , style="text-align:right", 838 , style="text-align:right", 18.17% , - , Rick Fraser , style="text-align:right", 729 , style="text-align:right", 15.80% , - , Total , style="text-align:right", 4,613 , style="text-align:right", 100%

Sources

Political party leadership elections in Alberta 2018 in Alberta 2018 elections in Canada Alberta Party leadership election