9:01 p.m. MT
The United Conservative Party under leader Jason Kenney has won a majority government in the Alberta election.
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8:56 p.m. MT
Alberta Party Leader Stephen Mandel has been defeated in the constituency of Edmonton-McClung in the Alberta provincial election.
NDP candidate Lorne Dach beat Mandel, who came in third.
Mandel was hoping to sit in the legislature for the second time.
He was named minister of health in the Progressive Conservative government of Jim Prentice in September 2014 despite not holding a seat.
Mandel won a byelection the following month, but was defeated in the May 2015 provincial election.
He was elected Alberta Party leader in February 2018.
The 73-year-old served as mayor of Edmonton for three straight terms.
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8:50 p.m. MT
Jason Kenney’s United Conservatives have jumped out front in early returns in Alberta’s election, winning many rural seats.
Rachel Notley’s NDP is holding strong in Edmonton.
The UCP holds early leads in many Calgary seats.
Calgary is seen by many as the key battleground in the election.
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8:39 p.m. MT
United Conservative Party Leader Jason Kenney has retained his seat of Calgary-Lougheed in the Alberta election.
It is the first provincial election for Kenney, a former federal cabinet minister in Stephen Harper’s government.
Kenney, who is 50, orchestrated a merger of Alberta’s Progressive Conservative and Wildrose parties in the summer of 2017.
He said at the time it was crucial to unite the right-of-centre parties so as to avoid a vote split and to defeat the NDP government.
He was chosen as the new party’s leader in the fall of 2017, and became a member of the legislature when he won a byelection in Calgary-Lougheed that December.
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8:00 p.m. MT
Polls have closed in the Alberta election and the governing New Democrats are hoping for second term over a United Conservative Opposition intent on seizing power.
The NDP’s surprise win in 2015 ended more than four decades of Progressive Conservative governments in Alberta.
But this time around, the Progressive Conservatives are no more.
The PCs merged with another right-of-centre party, the Wildrose, to create the new United Conservatives led by former federal cabinet minister Jason Kenney.
The four-week campaign focused on personal attacks and on Alberta’s fragile economy, which has been struggling with sluggish oil prices.
The NDP attacked Kenney out of the gate for his past views on same-sex rights and abortion.
Kenney criticized Premier Rachel Notley for working too closely with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on mired pipeline projects and environmental policy.
Almost 700,000 people voted early in advance polls.
The Canadian Press
