By Troy Gillard

three seats lost

Alberta Party voted out of legislature

Apr 16, 2019 | 11:42 PM

The Alberta Party has been shut out of the provincial legislature.

The party, which was hoping to make inroads in the 2019 election, lost all three seats it previously held in the legislature on Tuesday night despite gaining nearly 10 per cent of the popular vote.

Party Leader Stephen Mandel, who was aiming to win a seat in the legislature, finished third place in the Edmonton-McClung riding which was won by Lorne Dach of the NDP.

Greg Clark, the former leader of the party, lost his seat in Calgary Elbow, finishing in second place to Doug Schweitzer of the United Conservative Party.

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Rick Fraser, who represented Calgary-South East as a member of the Progressive Conservatives before crossing the floor in 2017, was defeated by Matt Jones of the United Conservative Party.

Calgary-Mackay-Nose Hill MLA Karen MacPherson, who crossed the floor from the NDP in 2017, announced in March she would not be seeking re-election. Her riding, which later had its boundaries adjusted to the ridings of Calgary-Beddington and Calgary-North, were both won by the United Conservative Party.

Alberta Party candidates Ryan McDougal in Red Deer-South and Paul Hardy in Red Deer-North each finished third in their respective races.

“There was a clear recognition of what the Alberta Party is towards the end of the campaign, whereas early on many people hadn’t heard of us,” Hardy said. “We are a clear alternative, and in four years’ time if the electorate is not entirely content we may be a logical choice.

“I’m very pleased with our campaign, pleased that we got the message about hospital expansion front and centre,” Hardy added.

The Alberta Party positioned itself through the election as a centrist alternative to both the NDP and the UCP.

The Alberta Liberals and Freedom Conservative Party also failed to win any seats on Tuesday.

(With file from Charles Lefebvre, CHAT News Today)