The 1959 Alberta general election was held on June 18, 1959, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.
Ernest C. Manning, in his fifth election as party leader and provincial premier, led the Social Credit Party to its seventh consecutive term in government, with 55% of the popular vote, and all but four of the sixty five seats in the legislature.
Social Credit was also helped by a split in the opposition vote: whereas in the 1955 election, opponents were largely united behind the Liberal Party, in this election the vote was divided between the Liberals and the resurgent Progressive Conservative Party under the leadership of Cam Kirby, won almost 15% of the popular vote, placing ahead of the Liberals whose leader, Grant MacEwan lost his Calgary seat. The Tories and Liberals each won only one seat in the legislature while the Alberta CCF was shut out of the legislature for the first time in seventeen years. The other two opposition seat were taken by a Coalition candidate in Banff and an Independent Social Credit-er, both with strong local support.
Under an Act passed in 1956, Alberta's MLAs were now elected through First-past-the-post voting.
Previous to this election, the Social Credit government had done away with the Instant-runoff voting system in use in the rural constituencies, and the Single Transferable Vote system in Edmonton and Calgary, both of which had been in place since 1924. The move was made, the government claimed, to prevent the waste of votes caused by votes being declared spoiled due to unsatisfactory ballot marking, to bring Alberta in line with the other provinces who were using the First past the post systems, and to stop what the government called a conspiracy by the opposition parties to gang up on the SC government. The cancellation of STV and AV also standardized and simplified voting results across the province. Under single transferable vote and instant-runoff voting, final results would take up to five days to count the necessary vote transfers, before the last seat in a multiple-member district, Edmonton nor Calgary, was declared filled. (Manning always knew he was elected only hours after the polls closed due to his high vote count on the First Count.) The delay was especially large in the Edmonton, which elected seven members in 1955.
The 1955 election had produced a large opposition in the Legislature (large by Alberta standards anyway). Besides Liberals, Conservatives and CCF-ers electing MLAs in proportion to their numbers in the cities, the government had lost a few members in rural constituencies due to IRV, when they had received the largest portion of the vote in the constituency in the First Count (but not a majority) but were not elected to the seat due to another candidate receiving many vote transfers and eventually accumulating a majority of the vote themselves. The cancellation of IRV system in the rural districts was meant to prevent this in the future. The cancellation of STV in the cities gave the government a windfall of seats as well. SC candidates captured all the seats in Edmonton and all but one in Calgary although getting only 48 percent of the Edmonton city vote and only 54 percent of the Calgary vote.
An Act was passed in 1957 that provided for the increase in the number of MLAs from 61 to 65, upon the next election. The following changes were made:
Prior to this election, one or more multi-member districts had been used in each Alberta election since 1909.
Alongside the change to FPTP, this increase necessitated the creation of 15 new districts, the most since 1913. The change was met by some harsh criticism at the time. The government was accused of changing the rules to help itself and for failing to consult the public, but it did not hurt the government's popularity at the polls.
|- |Acadia-Coronation||| |Marion Kelts<br/>2,450<br/>57.34% | | | |James Leland Sims<br/>1,408<br/>32.95% | |Lester A. Lindgren<br/>404<br/>9.45% | |||| | |- |Alexandra||| |Anders O. Aalborg<br/>2,354<br/>59.28% | |A.H. Sweet<br/>1,248<br/>31.43% | |Hilda A. Cross<br/>358<br/>9.02% | | | |||| |Anders O. Aalborg |- |Athabasca||| |Antonio Aloisio<br/>2,333<br/>54.17% | |Robert Shopland<br/>707<br/>16.42% | |Richard Edward Hall<br/>1,069<br/>24.82% | | | |John Harry (Lab-Pro)<br/>188<br/>4.36% || | |- |Banff-Cochrane | |Robin W. Echlin<br/>2,208<br/>48.94% | | | | | | || |Francis Leo Gainer (Coal)<br/>2,279<br/>50.51%||| |Francis Leo Gainer |- |Bonnyville||| |Karl Earnest Nordstrom<br/>2,465<br/>51.50% | |Victor E. Justik<br/>860<br/>17.97% | |Jake Josvanger<br/>1,447<br/>30.23% | | | |||| |Jake Josvanger |- |Bow Valley-Empress||| |William Delday<br/>2,863<br/>56.17% | | | | | | | |Bryce C. Stringam (Ind.)<br/>2213<br/>43.42% || |Bryce C. Stringam |- |Bruce||| |Earl M. Hardy<br/>2,324<br/>55.11% | |Clifford G. Patterson<br/>833<br/>19.75% | |Clare L. Liden<br/>534<br/>12.66% | |Edward I. Thompson<br/>518<br/>12.28% | |||| | |- |Calgary Bowness||| |Charles E. Johnston<br/>6,681<br/>59.09% | |Bruce Norris<br/>3,194<br/>28.25% | |Evelyn Leew<br/>1,018<br/>9.00% | |Kay Halliday Grose<br/>379<br/>3.35% | |||| | |- |Calgary-Centre||| |Frederick C. Colborne<br/>4,824<br/>53.69% | |Runo Carl Berglund<br/>2,642<br/>29.40% | |Gordon Arnell<br/>1,154<br/>12.84% | |Grant McHardy<br/>349<br/>3.88% | |||| | |- |Calgary-Glenmore | |A. Ross Lawson<br/>4,681<br/>40.58%||| |Ernest S. Watkins<br/>4,893<br/>42.42% | |Reg. Clarkson<br/>1,916<br/>16.61% | | | |||| | |- |Calgary-North||| |Rose Wilkinson<br/>6,655<br/>51.68% | |James David Macdonald<br/>3,385<br/>26.29% | |Grant MacEwan<br/>2,429<br/>18.86% | |Aylmer John Eggert Liesemer<br/>374<br/>2.90% | |||| | |- |Calgary-North East||| |Albert W. Ludwig<br/>5,945<br/>64.02% | |Melvin P. Stronach<br/>1,829<br/>19.70% | |E. Kitch Elton<br/>1,060<br/>11.42% | |Jack Hampson<br/>420<br/>4.52% | |||| | |- |Calgary-South East||| |Arthur J. Dixon<br/>5,643<br/>66.69% | |Ernest Henry Starr<br/>1,537<br/>18.16% | |Peter Petrasuk<br/>792<br/>9.36% | |George E. Ellinson<br/>437<br/>5.16% | |||| | |- |Calgary-West||| |Donald S. Fleming<br/>5,060<br/>49.99% | |Roy Victor Deyell<br/>3,392<br/>33.51% | |Ted Duncan<br/>1,397<br/>13.80% | |Ken Tory<br/>242<br/>2.39% | |||| | |- |Camrose||| |Chester I. Sayers<br/>3,229<br/>53.12% | |John E. Stuart<br/>1,638<br/>26.95% | |Stanley Ross Gould<br/>732<br/>12.04% | |Archie Olstad<br/>468<br/>7.70% | |||| | |- |Cardston||| |Edgar W. Hinman<br/>2,205<br/>73.43% | |John A. Spencer<br/>791<br/>26.34% | | | | | |||| |Edgar W. Hinman |- |Clover Bar||| |Floyd M. Baker<br/>3,393<br/>57.78% | |Andrew M. Adamson<br/>1,225<br/>20.86% | |Roy C. Marler<br/>935<br/>15.92% | |Ernest Wilfred Davies<br/>310<br/>5.28% | |||| | |- |Cypress||| |Harry E. Strom<br/>3,199<br/>79.09% | |Wayne N. Anderson<br/>831<br/>20.54% | | | | | |||| |Harry E. Strom |- |Didsbury||| |James Lawrence Owens<br/>3,042<br/>61.38% | |Douglas N. Munn<br/>1,350<br/>27.24% | |Walter P. Hourihan<br/>556<br/>11.22% | | | |||| |James Lawrence Owens |- |Drumheller||| |Gordon Edward Taylor<br/>3,922<br/>83.84% | |Eneas A. Toshach<br/>740<br/>15.82% | | | | | |||| |Gordon Edward Taylor |- |Dunvegan||| |Joseph M. Scruggs<br/>1,080<br/>38.72% | |Bennidict V. Griep<br/>661<br/>23.70% | |Steven P. Tachit<br/>648<br/>23.23% | |Floyd A. Johnson<br/>383<br/>13.73% | |||| | |- |Edmonton North||| |Ethel Sylvia Wilson<br/>4,831<br/>52.92% | |John Verchomin<br/>3,356<br/>36.76% | | | |Peter Gomuwka<br/>881<br/>9.65% | |||| | |- |Edmonton-Centre||| |Ambrose Holowach<br/>3,912<br/>46.53% | |Gerard Joseph Amerongen<br/>2,185<br/>25.99% | |Laurette C. Douglas<br/>1,684<br/>20.03% | |Robert Atkin<br/>589<br/>7.01% | |||| | |- |Edmonton-North East||| |Lou W. Heard<br/>4,960<br/>49.52% | |Allan Welsh<br/>2,389<br/>23.85% | |Louis Marchand<br/>1,325<br/>13.23% | |Alex Goruk<br/>1,063<br/>10.61% | |William Harasym (Lab-Pro)<br/>218<br/>2.18% || | |- |Edmonton-North West||| |Edgar H. Gerhart<br/>4,823<br/>42.63% | |Ned Feehan<br/>3,249<br/>28.72% | |Harper McCrae<br/>2,071<br/>18.31% | |James (Jim) Forest<br/>1,146<br/>10.13% | |||| | |- |Edmonton-Norwood||| |William Tomyn<br/>5,071<br/>54.49% | |Nestor Marchyshyn<br/>1,482<br/>15.93% | |P.W. Bill Jones<br/>1,522<br/>16.36% | |Frank G. McCoy<br/>932<br/>10.02% | |William A. Tuomi (Lab-Pro)<br/>251<br/>2.70% || | |- |Edson||| |Norman Alfred Willmore<br/>3,074<br/>56.84% | |Chris. H.R. Nielsen<br/>1,678<br/>31.03% | |Melvyn A. Parkyn<br/>634<br/>11.72% | | | |||| |Norman Alfred Willmore |- |Gleichen||| |George E. Bell<br/>2,267<br/>59.94% | |A. John Van Wezel<br/>754<br/>19.94% | |Carman W. Ellis<br/>752<br/>19.88% | | | |||| |George E. Bell |- |Grande Prairie||| |Ira McLaughlin<br/>4,213<br/>65.43% | |David T. Williamson<br/>1,391<br/>21.60% | |Mac Perkins<br/>816<br/>12.67% | | | |||| |Ira McLaughlin |- |Grouard||| |Roy Ells<br/>3,727<br/>57.01% | |Paul Soulodre<br/>1,309<br/>20.02% | |Paul E. Maisonneuve<br/>1,476<br/>22.58% | | | |||| | |- |Hand Hills||| |Clinton Keith French<br/>3,052<br/>65.99% | |William J. Newman<br/>1,074<br/>23.22% | |Val Gobel<br/>489<br/>10.57% | | | |||| |Wallace Warren Cross |- |Jasper West||| |Richard H. Jamieson<br/>5,047<br/>40.65% | |John Percy Page<br/>4,507<br/>36.30% | |Abe William Miller<br/>2,782<br/>22.41% | | | |||| | |- |Lac La Biche | |Elvin J. Woynarowich<br/>1,518<br/>41.27% | |Henry T. Thompson<br/>411<br/>11.17%||| |Michael Maccagno<br/>1,734<br/>47.15% | | | |||| |Michael Maccagno |- |Lac Ste. Anne||| |William Patterson<br/>2,286<br/>46.53% | |L.D. Gould<br/>1,129<br/>22.98% | |John A. Mills<br/>907<br/>18.46% | |Charley Keeley<br/>582<br/>11.85% | |||| | |- |Lacombe||| |Allan Russell Patrick<br/>3,089<br/>63.42% | |Denis R. Stafford<br/>1,162<br/>23.86% | | | |Robert H. Carlyle<br/>620<br/>12.73% | |||| |Allan Russell Patrick |- |Leduc | | | |Peter Wyllie<br/>1,494<br/>33.11% | | | |Andrew Simon Borys<br/>676<br/>14.98%||| |Ronald Earl Ansley (Ind. SoCred)<br/>2,334<br/>51.73%||| | |- |Lethbridge||| |John C. Landeryou<br/>7,250<br/>61.77% | |Thomas Spanos<br/>2,917<br/>24.85% | |Robery Henry Jeacock<br/>1,525<br/>12.99% | | | |||| |John C. Landeryou |- |Little Bow||| |Peter Dawson<br/>2,939<br/>64.71% | |Bernard W. Tonken<br/>989<br/>21.77% | |Donald A. McNiven<br/>603<br/>13.28% | | | |||| |Peter Dawson |- |Macleod||| |James Hartley<br/>3,731<br/>72.12% | |Leo E. Toone<br/>949<br/>18.35% | |Dennis Arthur Mouser<br/>475<br/>9.18% | | | |||| |James Hartley |- |Medicine Hat||| |Elizabeth G. Robinson<br/>5,604<br/>64.87% | |John H. Cocks<br/>1,780<br/>20.60% | |Norma DeMan<br/>597<br/>6.91% | |John D. Rogers<br/>495<br/>5.73% | |||| |Elizabeth G. Robinson |- |Okotoks-High River||| |Ernest G. Hansell<br/>2,642<br/>51.42% | |James S. McLeod<br/>1,069<br/>20.81% | | | | | |Ross Laird Ellis (Ind.)<br/>1,427<br/>27.77% || |Ross Laird Ellis |- |Olds||| |Roderick Angus Macleod<br/>3,424<br/>66.29% | |Bruce Hanson<br/>1,728<br/>33.46% | | | | | |||| |Roderick Angus Macleod |- |Peace River||| |William F. Gilliland<br/>2,864<br/>60.64% | |Harold C. Sissons<br/>1,190<br/>25.20% | |James Mann<br/>650<br/>13.76% | | | |||| |William F. Gilliland |- |Pembina||| |Robin D. Jorgenson<br/>3,436<br/>61.50% | |Frie Bredo<br/>1,708<br/>30.57% | |Gustav Wahl<br/>416<br/>7.45% | | | |||| |Robin D. Jorgenson |- |Pincher Creek-Crowsnest||| |William A. Kovach<br/>3,145<br/>66.89% | |Alex Grant<br/>1,133<br/>24.10% | |C. Boyden<br/>410<br/>8.72% | | | |||| |William A. Kovach |- |Ponoka||| |Glen F. Johnston<br/>2,406<br/>49.88% | |Ivor E. Davies<br/>1,529<br/>31.70% | |Erwin E. Schultz<br/>860<br/>17.83% | | | |||| | |- |Red Deer||| |William Kenneth Ure<br/>6,691<br/>63.61% | |William J. Cameron "Cam" Kirby<br/>3,797<br/>36.10% | | | | | |||| | |- |Redwater||| |John Dubetz<br/>2,092<br/>49.05% | |Martha P. Bielish<br/>901<br/>21.13% | |Alfred Macyk<br/>1,262<br/>29.59% | | | |||| | |- |Rocky Mountain House||| |Alfred J. Hooke<br/>3,235<br/>74.45% | | | |Tom Bert<br/>660<br/>15.19% | |Raymond E. Schmidt<br/>437<br/>10.06% | |||| |Alfred J. Hooke |- |Sedgewick||| |Jack C. Hillman<br/>2,805<br/>62.75% | |Kenneth M. Geddes<br/>796<br/>17.81% | |Mildred G. Redman<br/>541<br/>12.10% | |Arthur C. Bunney<br/>319<br/>7.14% | |||| |Jack C. Hillman |- |Spirit River||| |Adolph O. Fimrite<br/>3,010<br/>63.68% | |Charles J. Stojan<br/>1,059<br/>22.40% | | | |James W. Graham<br/>593<br/>12.54% | |C.J. Lampert (Ind. SoCred)<br/>58<br/>1.23%||| |Adolph O. Fimrite |- |St. Albert||| |Keith Everitt<br/>2,157<br/>36.28% | |Stanley M. Walker<br/>1,187<br/>19.96% | |Arthur J. Soetaert<br/>2,082<br/>35.02% | |Earl Toane<br/>473<br/>7.95% | |||| | |- |St. Paul||| |Raymond Reierson<br/>3,412<br/>68.38% | |Gordon Shave<br/>534<br/>10.70% | |J. Van Brabant<br/>1,034<br/>20.72% | | | |||| |Raymond Reierson |- |Stettler||| |Galen C. Norris<br/>3,150<br/>60.71% | |Gordon Taylor<br/>991<br/>19.10% | |Henry Kroeger<br/>721<br/>13.89% | |Alice Ness<br/>297<br/>5.72% | |||| |Galen C. Norris |- |Stony Plain||| |Cornelia R. Wood<br/>2,880<br/>46.25% | |Robert K. Clarkson<br/>1,227<br/>19.70% | |John Harold McLaughlin<br/>2,091<br/>33.58% | | | |||| |John Harold McLaughlin |- |Strathcona Centre||| |Joseph Donovan Ross<br/>4,564<br/>53.81% | |Pat Walsh<br/>2,226<br/>26.25% | |Leslie M. Lyons<br/>1,215<br/>14.33% | |Keith Wright<br/>422<br/>4.98% | |||| | |- |Strathcona East||| |Ernest C. Manning<br/>7,337<br/>49.62% | |James E. Simpson<br/>3,812<br/>25.78% | |George Johnson<br/>2,610<br/>17.65% | |Hugh Smith<br/>999<br/>6.76% | |||| | |- |Strathcona West||| |Randolph H. McKinnon<br/>3,639<br/>41.63% | |Eric M. Duggan<br/>2,683<br/>30.69% | |Frank J. Edwards<br/>1,982<br/>22.67% | |H. Douglas Trace<br/>423<br/>4.84% | |||| | |- |Taber||| |Roy S. Lee<br/>3,678<br/>77.64% | |Leslie P. Cluff<br/>1,037<br/>21.89% | | | | | |||| |Roy S. Lee |- |Vegreville||| |Alex W. Gordey<br/>2,248<br/>47.63% | |Joseph M. Melnychuk<br/>531<br/>11.25% | |John Koshuta<br/>676<br/>14.32% | |Stanley N. Ruzycki<br/>1,253<br/>26.55% | |||| | |- |Vermilion||| |Ashley H. Cooper<br/>2,204<br/>49.35% | |D.J. Frunchak<br/>799<br/>17.89% | |Russell James Whitson<br/>1,224<br/>27.41% | | | |John P. Hocaluk (Lab-Pro)<br/>227<br/>5.08% || | |- |Wainwright||| |Henry A. Ruste<br/>3,111<br/>64.76% | |Donald Mills<br/>831<br/>17.30% | |Henry D. Frizzell<br/>572<br/>11.91% | |John Wesley Connelly<br/>274<br/>5.70% | |||| |Henry A. Ruste |- |Warner||| |Leonard C. Halmrast<br/>2,430<br/>72.52% | | | |Mark R. Stringam<br/>915<br/>27.31% | | | |||| |Leonard C. Halmrast |- |Wetaskiwin||| |John A. Wingblade<br/>3,352<br/>58.12% | |Robert D. Angus<br/>1,010<br/>17.51% | |Fred R. MacNaughton<br/>642<br/>11.13% | |David Pat. Garland<br/>749<br/>12.99% | |||| | |- |Willingdon||| |Nicholas A. Melnyk<br/>2,421<br/>63.13% | |Alex Hushlak<br/>991<br/>25.84% | | | |Nick W. Svekla<br/>392<br/>10.22% | |||| | |-