Cochrane (provincial electoral district)

Cochrane
Alberta electoral district
Defunct provincial electoral district
Legislature Legislative Assembly of Alberta
District created 1909
District abolished 1940
First contested 1909
Last contested 1935

Cochrane was a provincial electoral district in southern Alberta, Canada. The district was 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.

Cochrane history

Boundary history

Members of the Legislative Assembly for Cochrane[6]
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-present

Electoral history overview

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 Fishers death saw it won by Alexander Moore of the United Farmers of Alberta. Moore was re-elected in 1921 serving 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 that saw that party rise to power.

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

Election results

1909 general election

1909 Alberta general election results[7] Turnout 89.75% Swing
Affiliation Candidate Votes % Party Personal
     Liberal Charles Fisher 627 67.56% *
     Conservative Robert Brett 301 32.44% *
Total 928 100%
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined Records not kept
1,034 Eligible Electors
     Liberal pickup new district Swing N/A

1913 general election

1913 Alberta general election results[8] Turnout 85.08% Swing
Affiliation Candidate Votes % Party Personal
     Liberal Charles Fisher 475 55.56% -12.00%
     Conservative Henry Jarrett 380 44.44% 12.00% *
Total 855 100%
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined Records not kept
1,005 Eligible Electors
     Liberal hold Swing -12.00%

1917 general election

1917 Alberta general election results[9] Turnout 83.45% Swing
Affiliation Candidate Votes % Party Personal
     Liberal Charles Fisher 630 57.33% 1.77%
     Conservative H.E.G.H. Scholefield 469 42.67% -1.77% *
Total 1,099 100%
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined Records not kept
1,317 Eligible Electors
     Liberal hold Swing 1.77%

1919 by-election

November 3, 1919 by-election results[10] Turnout 118.07% Swing
Affiliation Candidate Votes % Party Personal
United FarmersAlexander Moore 850 54.66%
     Liberal E.V. Thompson 705 45.34% -11.99% *
Total 1,555 100%
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined Records not kept
1,317 Eligible Electors
United Farmers gain from Liberal Swing 33.33%

On May 5, 1919 incumbent Charles Fisher died causing the district to become vacant.[11] On July 15, 1919 The Alberta Non-Partisan League decided to merge with the United Farmers of Alberta.[12]

The United Farmers held a nomination meeting on July 22, 1919.[13] 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.[14]

The Liberals chose E.V. Thompson to hold the district, which had been a stronghold for the party.[10] 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.[10] The by-election would mark the beginning for the end of the Liberal government in Alberta.

1921 general election

1921 Alberta general election results[15] Turnout 126.22% Swing
Affiliation Candidate Votes % Party Personal
United FarmersAlexander Moore 961 63.98% 9.32%
  Liberal + Conservative Angus McDonald 541 36.02% -9.32% *
Total 1,502 100%
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined Records not kept
1,190 Eligible Electors
United Farmers hold Swing 9.32%

The 1921 Alberta general election held in Cochrane saw another two way fight.[15] The election was contested by incumbent Alexander Moore who had won a historic by-election victory in the district just two years before.[10]

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.[16]

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%.[15]

1926 general election

1926 Alberta general election results[17] Turnout 75.65% 1st Count Swing
Affiliation Candidate 1st Count % 2nd Count % Party Personal
United FarmersRobert McCool 883 47.35% 1,013 60.08% -16.63% *
     Liberal William Laut 597 32.01% 673 39.92% -4.01% *
     Conservative F.G.C. Mortimer 385 20.64% Eliminated -15.38% *
Total 1,865 1,686 100%
Exhausted Ballots 0 179
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined 120
2,624 Eligible Electors
United Farmers hold Swing -10.32%

1930 general election

1930 Alberta general election results[18] Turnout 76.42% Swing
Affiliation Candidate 1st Count % Party Personal
United FarmersRobert McCool 1,174 50.26% 2.91%
     Liberal William Laut 1,162 49.74% 17.73%
Total 2,336 100%
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined 66
3,143 Eligible Electors
United Farmers hold Swing -10.32%

1935 general election

1935 Alberta general election results[19] Turnout 76.42% Swing
Affiliation Candidate 1st Count % Party Personal
     Social Credit William King 1,880 54.71% *
     Liberal William Laut 628 18.28% -31.46%
United FarmersRobert McCool 591 17.20% -33.06%
     Conservative J.A. Tweedle 337 9.81% *
Total 3,436 100%
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined 66
3,143 Eligible Electors
     Social Credit pickup from United Farmers Swing 43.86%

References

  1. "2". Statutes of the Province of Alberta. Government of Alberta. 1909. pp. 31–32.
  2. "2". Statutes of the Province of Alberta. Government of Alberta. 1913. pp. 28–29.
  3. "5". Statutes of the Province of Alberta. Government of Alberta. 1921. p. 37.
  4. "3". Statutes of the Province of Alberta. Government of Alberta. 1926. p. 20.
  5. "14". Statutes of the Province of Alberta. Government of Alberta. 1930. p. 91.
  6. "Members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta 1905-2006" (PDF). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 30, 2007. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
  7. "Cochrane results 1909 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved 2009-05-17.
  8. "Cochrane results 1913 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved 2009-05-17.
  9. "Cochrane results 1917 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved 2009-05-17.
  10. 1 2 3 4 "Alex Moore wins Cochrane Seat in Bye-election". Calgary Herald. November 4, 1919. pp. 1, 23.
  11. "Making Arrangements Funeral of Speaker". No. 5527 (Calgary Herald). May 6, 1919.
  12. "Non-Partizan League Will Suspend Alberta Activities". 3585 (Calgary Daily Herald). p. 17.
  13. "U.F.A. Will Nominate Candidate For Cochrane Riding". 3590 (Calgary Herald). July 22, 1919. p. 1.
  14. "A.A. Moore is U.F.A. Nominee for Cochrane". 3590 (Calgary Herald). July 22, 1919. p. 6.
  15. 1 2 3 "Cochrane results 1921 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved 2009-05-17.
  16. "Nominations". Vol. 17 No. 296 (Edmonton Journal). July 2, 1921. p. 1.
  17. "Cochrane results 1926 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved 2009-05-17.
  18. "Cochrane results 1930 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved 2009-05-17.
  19. "Cochrane results 1935 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved 2009-05-17.

External links

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