Alberta general election, 1989

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March 20, 1989 (1989-03-20)

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83 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta
42 seats needed for a majority

Turnout

53.60%

	Majority party	Minority party	Third party

Leader	Don Getty	Ray Martin	Laurence Decore
Party	Progressive Conservative	New Democratic	Liberal
Leader since	November 1, 1985	1984	October 9, 1988
Leader's seat	Edmonton-Whitemud (lost re-election)	Edmonton-Norwood	Edmonton-Glengarry
Last election	61 seats, 51.4%	16 seats, 29.2%	4 seats, 12.2%
Seats before	61	16	4
Seats won	59	16	8
Seat change	2	±0	4
Popular vote	367,244	217,972	237,787
Percentage	44.3%	26.3%	28.7%
Swing	7.1%	2.9%	16.5%

Premier before election

Don Getty
Progressive Conservative

Premier-designate

Don Getty
Progressive Conservative

The Alberta general election of 1989 was the twenty-second general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on March 20, 1989 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.

Many political observers were surprised by the early election call - less than three years had passed since the previous election. Premier Don Getty, in his second election as Progressive Conservative Party leader, led it to its sixth consecutive term in government, despite losing a significant share of the popular vote and two seats in the legislature, including his own seat of Edmonton-Whitemud to Liberal candidate Percy Wickman.

The New Democratic Party led by Ray Martin largely held its share of the popular vote, and also its 16 seats in the legislature.

The Liberal Party, under new leader Laurence Decore, was the principal beneficiary of the voters' continuing distrust of Don Getty. The Liberals' share of the popular vote increased to over 28%, more than the NDP, but the party's legislative caucus increased from four to only eight members.

The Representative Party, which had elected 2 candidates in the previous election, did not run any candidates in 1989 (although it remained registered). Leader Ray Speaker defected to the Progressive Conservatives, while Walt Buck retired. The party disbanded soon after the election.

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Wikipedia