It’s election day in Alberta with Danielle Smith's United Conservative Party fighting to win a second consecutive majority government, while Rachel Notley’s NDP is trying to regain the government it lost in 2019.
Here are the latest developments (all times are MT):
12 a.m.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says it’s time to put personal and political attacks in the “rear-view mirror.”
Her United Conservative Party has won a majority in the provincial election.
Smith was also re-elected in her constituency of Brooks-Medicine Hat.
In her victory speech, she took aim at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Smith says Ottawa is planning to bring in new restrictions on electricity generation from natural gas that she says would increase power bills and endanger the reliability of the power grid. Â
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11:30 p.m.
Alberta NDP Leader Rachel Notley says she has conceded the provincial election to United Conservative Leader Danielle Smith.Â
Notley says support has grown for the NDP with at least 10 more members in the legislature than the last election.
She says she will continue to be the leader of the NDP and official Opposition.Â
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11:10 p.m.
Deputy premier Kaycee Madu has lost his seat in Edmonton-South West.
Madu was made deputy premier after Danielle Smith won the United Conservative Party leadership race last year that also made her premier.
He was moved out of the justice portfolio by former premier Jason Kenney when a third-party report determined he tried to interfere in the administration of justice by calling up Edmonton's police chief to complain about a traffic ticket.
He has also defended Smith’s phone call with a Calgary pastor who was facing charges for his role in a protest over COVID-19 restrictions that snarled Alberta's main border crossing into the United States in early 2022.
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11:05 p.m.
The Canadian Press is projecting a majority government for Alberta’s United Conservative Party.
The UCP dominated in rural ridings as expected, re-electing cabinet ministers including UCP Leader Danielle Smith in Brooks-Medicine Hat.Â
NDP Leader Rachel Notley won her seat in Edmonton-Strathcona for a fifth time and her party was on track to sweep the capital.Â
The NDP also made inroads in the traditional conservative stronghold of Calgary.
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11 p.m.
Alberta's health minister has lost his seat in the constituency of Calgary-Varsity.
Jason Copping lost to the NDP's Luanne Metz, who is a doctor, medical researcher and professor at the University of Calgary.
Copping became health minister after Tyler Shandro resigned in 2021 and later moved to the justice portfolio.
Copping held onto the cabinet position when Danielle Smith replaced Jason Kenney as UCP leader and premier last year.Â
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10:55 p.m.
Municipal Affairs Minister Rebecca Schulz has been re-elected in her constituency of Calgary-Shaw.
Schulz was minister of children’s services under former premier Jason Kenney and was moved to the municipal portfolio when Danielle Smith won the United Conservative leadership and became premier in October.
Schulz also ran against Smith for the UCP leadership.Â
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10:40 p.m.
A United Conservative Party candidate who compared transgender students to feces in food has won the Lacombe-Ponoka seat in the Alberta legislature.Â
Earlier this month, audio surfaced of Jennifer Johnson telling a group that the province's high-ranking education system counts for little set against the issue of transgender students, comparing their presence to a batch of cookies laced with feces.
UCP Leader Danielle Smith condemned the remarks and said Johnson would not sit in the party caucus if she won.Â
However, Smith has also said, when referring to Johnson, that she believes in second chances.Â
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10:35 p.m.
Some United Conservative Party cabinet ministers have won their seats.Â
Education Minister Adriana won in Red Deer North and Matt Jones, the minister of affordability and utilities, retained his seat in Calgary-South East.
Rick Wilson, the minister of Indigenous relations, won in Maskwacis-Wetaskiwin, while Nate Horner, minister of agriculture, won in Drumheller-Stettler.
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10:17 p.m.
Alberta's mental health and addictions minister has lost his seat in Calgary-Currie.
Nicholas Milliken, with the United Conservative Party, lost to the NDP's Janet Eremenko.
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10:15 p.m.Â
The leader of the Green Party of Alberta has lost in Edmonton-Rutherford.Â
Jordan Wilkie lost to NDP candidate Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse.Â
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9:55 p.m.
Alberta NDP Leader Rachel Notley has been re-elected as the legislature member for Edmonton-Strathcona. Â
Notley rode the “orange wave” to victory in 2015, toppling the Progressive Conservatives after 44 years in power in Alberta.
Her 2015 win was aided by vote splitting between the governing Progressive Conservatives and the Opposition Wildrose Party.Â
The PCs and Wildrose joined forces to create the United Conservative Party in 2017 and under Jason Kenney captured a majority in 2019.Â
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9:40 p.m.
The Canadian Press has called a United Conservative victory in eight constituencies.
A few of those ridings were affected by the wildfires in Alberta.
Residents in Drayton Valley-Devon and West Yellowhead outside Edmonton were forced to leave their homes earlier this month.
Peace River in northern Alberta was also affected by wildfire.Â
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9:36 p.m.
United Conservative Leader Danielle Smith has been re-elected as the legislature member for Brooks-Medicine Hat.Â
She won the seat in a byelection in November, more than seven years after she left the Alberta legislature.
Smith called the byelection shortly after she won the leadership race to replace Jason Kenney as United Conservative Party leader and premier in October.
She has been dogged during the election campaign by past comments, including comparing those who took the COVID-19 vaccine to followers of Adolf Hitler.
A report that came mid-campaign from the ethics commissioner also concluded that Smith undermined the rule of law by pressuring her justice minister to end a criminal court case of a COVID-19 protester.
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9:10 p.m.
Early results in the Alberta election show the NDP was holding strong in Edmonton while the UCP was leading in most rural ridings.
Calgary is still a toss-up in with razor-thin margins in many seats.
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8:45 p.m.
Alberta’s United Conservatives jumped out to a lead over the NDP in early returns tonight in what has been forecast to be a tight race in the provincial election.Â
Advance polls set a record of more than 758,000 votes cast, eclipsing the previous record of more than 700,000 in 2019.
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8 p.m.
Polls have closed in Alberta in an election expected to be a nail-biter finish between the United Conservative Party and the NDP.
Both the UCP's Danielle Smith and the NDP's Rachel Notley have been premier and leaders of the official Opposition.
Advance polls suggest voter turnout will be heavy.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 29, 2023.
The Canadian Press
