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Cochrane (provincial electoral district)

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Cochrane
Alberta electoral district
Defunct provincial electoral district
LegislatureLegislative Assembly of Alberta
District created1909
District abolished1940
First contested1909
Last contested1935

Cochrane was a provincial electoral district in Alberta mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1909 to 1926 under the First Past the Post voting system and under Single Transferable Vote from 1926 to 1940.[1]

History

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Boundary history

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Members of the Legislative Assembly for Cochrane[7]
Assembly Years Member Party
See Banff, Gleichen and Rosebud electoral districts from 1905-1909
2nd 1909-1913 Charles Fisher Liberal
3rd 1913-1917
4th 1917-1919
1919 Vacant
1919-1921 Alexander Moore United Farmers
5th 1921-1926
6th 1926-1930 Robert McCool
7th 1930-1935
8th 1935-1940 William King Social Credit
See Banff-Cochrane electoral district from 1940-2019

Electoral history overview

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The first election in the Cochrane provincial electoral was held in 1909. The district was created from an amalgamation of three electoral districts. Two of those districts, Rosebud and Banff, disappeared completely.

The election was a hotly contested race between two former members of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories: incumbent Charles Fisher and future Alberta Lieutenant Governor Robert Brett.

Fisher, who had been serving as the first Speaker of the House since 1906, was re-elected in the new district by a large margin. He held the district for 10 years before he died while still holding office, being re-elected twice more.

The by-election held in the district after Fisher's death saw the district won by Alexander Moore of the United Farmers of Alberta. Moore was re-elected in 1921, and served until 1926. Robert McCool was elected holding the district for the United Farmers. McCool was defeated by Social Credit candidate William King in the 1935 election which saw that party rise to power.

The electoral district was merged with the Rocky Mountain electoral district to become the new district of Banff-Cochrane for the 1940 Alberta general election.

Election results

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1909

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1909 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Charles W. Fisher 627 67.56%
Conservative Robert George Brett 301 32.44%
Total 928
Rejected, spoiled and declined N/A
Eligible electors / turnout N/A N/A
Liberal pickup new district.
Source(s)
Source: "Cochrane Official Results 1909 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1913

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1913 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Charles W. Fisher 475 55.56% -12.01%
Conservative Henry F. Jarrett 380 44.44% 12.01%
Total 855
Rejected, spoiled and declined N/A
Eligible electors / turnout N/A N/A
Liberal hold Swing -12.01%
Source(s)
Source: "Cochrane Official Results 1913 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1917

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1917 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Charles W. Fisher 630 57.32% 1.77%
Conservative Harold E. G. H. Scholefield 469 42.68% -1.77%
Total 1,099
Rejected, spoiled and declined N/A
Eligible electors / turnout N/A N/A
Liberal hold Swing 1.77%
Source(s)
Source: "Cochrane Official Results 1917 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1919 by-election

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On May 5, 1919, incumbent Charles Fisher died, causing the district to become vacant.[8] On July 15, 1919, the Alberta Non-Partisan League decided to merge with the United Farmers of Alberta.[9]

The United Farmers held a nomination meeting on July 22, 1919.[10] There were a total of three candidates running for the nomination. The meeting was well attended by the farmers in the area and the executive of the United Farmers of Alberta. The chairman of the meeting was former Conservative candidate H.E.G.H. Scholefield. Alexander Moore was selected from a field of three nominees vying for candidacy.[11]

The Liberals chose E.V. Thompson to hold the district, which had been a stronghold for the party.[12] The returns came back showing a seesaw race. Thompson had won a number of polling divisions in towns, while Moore won the division's rural portions. The race was hotly contested and saw the largest voter turnout to date.[12] The by-election would mark the beginning for the end of the Liberal government in Alberta.

Alberta provincial by-election, November 3, 1919
following the death of Charles W. Fisher on May 5, 1919
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
United Farmers Alexander Moore 850 54.66%
Liberal E. V. Thompson 705 45.34% -11.99%
Total 1,555
Rejected, spoiled and declined N/A
Eligible electors / turnout N/A N/A
United Farmers gain from Liberal Swing 33.33%
Source(s)
Source: "Cochrane Official By-election Results". Elections Alberta. May 5, 1919. Retrieved March 19, 2010.
"Alex Moore wins Cochrane Seat in Bye-election". Calgary Herald. November 4, 1919. pp. 1, 23.

1921

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The 1921 Alberta general election held in Cochrane saw another two-way fight.[13] The election was contested by incumbent Alexander Moore who had won a historic by-election victory in the district just two years before.[12]

The Liberals who had fought hard to keep the seat in the by-election hatched a plan to team up with the Conservatives. The two parties held a joint nomination meeting to run a candidate under both banners in the district. The party members nominated Angus McDonald, a popular rancher residing in the district, to oppose Moore and support the administration of Premier Charles Stewart.[14]

The results came back as a landslide for Moore. He easily held his seat and kept the district for the United Farmers defeating Angus. The United Farmers would sweep many rural districts across the province that election to form the second Government of Alberta. Moore increased the percentage of the popular vote to almost 64%.[13]


1921 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
United Farmers Alexander A. Moore 961 63.98% 9.32%
Liberal Angus S. McDonald 541 36.02% -9.32%
Total 1,502
Rejected, spoiled and declined N/A
Eligible electors / turnout N/A N/A
United Farmers hold Swing 33.33%
Source(s)
Source: "Cochrane Official Results 1921 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1926

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1926 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes
1st count
% Votes
final count
±%
United Farmers Robert Milton McCool 883 47.35% 1,013 -16.64%
Liberal William Laut 597 32.01% 673 -4.01%
Conservative F. G. C. Mortimer 385 20.64%
Total 1,865
Rejected, spoiled and declined 120
Eligible electors / turnout 2,624 75.65%
United Farmers hold Swing -6.31%
Source(s)
Source: "Cochrane Official Results 1926 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
Instant-runoff voting requires a candidate to receive a plurality (greater than 50%) of the votes.
As no candidate received a plurality of votes, the bottom candidate was eliminated and their 2nd place votes were applied to both other candidates until one received a plurality.

1930

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1930 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
United Farmers Robert Milton McCool 1,174 50.26% 2.91%
Liberal William Laut 1,162 49.74% 17.73%
Total 2,336
Rejected, spoiled and declined 66
Eligible electors / turnout 3,143 76.42% 0.78%
United Farmers hold Swing -7.41%
Source(s)
Source: "Cochrane Official Results 1930 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1935

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1935 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Social Credit William Robert King 1,880 54.71%
Liberal William Laut 628 18.28% -31.47%
United Farmers Robert Milton McCool 591 17.20% -33.06%
Conservative J. A. Tweedle 337 9.81%
Total 3,436
Rejected, spoiled and declined 86
Eligible electors / turnout 4,007 87.90% 11.47%
Social Credit gain from United Farmers Swing 17.96%
Source(s)
Source: "Cochrane Official Results 1935 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Election results for Cochrane". abheritage.ca. Wayback Machine: Heritage Community Foundation. Archived from the original on December 8, 2010. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
  2. ^ "2". Statutes of the Province of Alberta. Government of Alberta. 1909. pp. 31–32.
  3. ^ "2". Statutes of the Province of Alberta. Government of Alberta. 1913. pp. 28–29.
  4. ^ "5". Statutes of the Province of Alberta. Government of Alberta. 1921. p. 37.
  5. ^ "3". Statutes of the Province of Alberta. Government of Alberta. 1926. p. 20.
  6. ^ "14". Statutes of the Province of Alberta. Government of Alberta. 1930. p. 91.
  7. ^ "Members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta 1905-2006" (PDF). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 30, 2007. Retrieved May 20, 2009.
  8. ^ "Making Arrangements Funeral of Speaker". No. 5527. Calgary Herald. May 6, 1919.
  9. ^ "Non-Partizan League Will Suspend Alberta Activities". 3585. Calgary Daily Herald. p. 17.
  10. ^ "U.F.A. Will Nominate Candidate For Cochrane Riding". 3590. Calgary Herald. July 22, 1919. p. 1.
  11. ^ "A.A. Moore is U.F.A. Nominee for Cochrane". 3590. Calgary Herald. July 22, 1919. p. 6.
  12. ^ a b c "Alex Moore wins Cochrane Seat in Bye-election". Calgary Herald. November 4, 1919. pp. 1, 23.
  13. ^ a b "Cochrane Official Results 1921 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  14. ^ "Nominations". Vol. 17 No. 296. Edmonton Journal. July 2, 1921. p. 1.

Further reading

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