Edmonton-Castle Downs is a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada. The district is one of 87 mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting.

Edmonton-Castle Downs
Alberta electoral district
Edmonton-Castle Downs within the City of Edmonton, 2017 boundaries
Provincial electoral district
LegislatureLegislative Assembly of Alberta
MLA
 
 
 
Nicole Goehring
New Democratic
District created1996
First contested1997
Last contested2023

The district was created in 1997 boundary redistribution when Edmonton-Roper merged with the north half of Edmonton-Mayfield. The riding has swung between Liberal and Progressive Conservative control since it was created, before returning an NDP MLA in 2015. The 2004 election was very controversial, with near even support for both the Liberal and Progressive Conservative candidates. The outcome was decided in the third recount, which resulted in Thomas Lukaszuk winning the riding by 3 votes.

Neighborhoods in this riding include: Baturyn, Caernarvon, Carlisle, Beaumaris, Lorelei, Dunluce, Klarvatten, Rapperswill, Chambery & Elsinore.

The riding was last contested in the 2019 election, during which the NDP incumbent, Nicole Goehring, defeated Ed Ammar of the United Conservative Party by 2,017 votes.

History

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The electoral district was created in the 1996 boundary redistribution from parts of Edmonton-Mayfield and Edmonton-Roper. The 2010 boundary redistribution saw some big changes to the riding with all land west of 127 street ceded to Edmonton-Calder and the eastern boundary that existed at 97 Street between the Edmonton city limits and 167 Avenue moved east to 82 Street in land that was part of Edmonton-Decore.

Boundary history

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Electoral history

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Edmonton-Castle Downs
Assembly Years Member Party
Riding created from Edmonton-Mayfield and Edmonton-Roper
24th  1997–2001     Pamela Paul-Zobaric Liberal
 1999–2001     Independent
25th  2001–2004     Thomas Lukaszuk Progressive Conservative
26th  2004–2008
27th  2008–2012
28th  2012–2015
29th  2015–2019     Nicole Goehring New Democratic
30th  2019–2023
31st  2023–Present

The electoral district was created in the 1997 boundary redistribution. The first election held in 1997 saw Liberal candidate Pamela Paul-Zobaric elected. She won a very closely contested race, defeating Progressive Conservative candidate Ihor Broda and two other candidates by just over 100 votes. She left the Liberal caucus over rights issues for women on November 15, 1999 to sit as an Independent. She did not run again in the 2001 election.

The second representative of the district was Progressive Conservative Thomas Lukaszuk. He won a three-way race in the 2001 general election with just over half the popular vote to pick up the seat for his party. He ran for a second term in 2004. Lukaszuk appeared defeated on election night by a few votes over Liberal candidate Chris Kibermanis. A recount by Elections Alberta confirmed Kibbermanis as the winner and declared him as the elected member. Lukaszuk and his campaign team took the recount process to the courts, and won the election in the judicial recount.

Lukaszuk and Kibermanis both stood for election in 2008. Lukaszuk won with over half the popular vote, while Kibbermanis dropped to 36% of the total. Lukaszuk was re-elected in 2012; while his strict vote count only increased by around 700, his majority increased from 2,069 in 2008 to 4,697 in 2012.

In the 2015 Alberta General Election NDP MLA Nicole Goehring was elected with 64.5% of the vote, with Lukaszuk dropping to second with 23% of the popular vote.

Legislative election results

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1997

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1997 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Pamela Paul 4,456 41.32%
Progressive Conservative Ihor Broda 4,373 40.55%
New Democratic Peter Johnsen 1,494 13.86%
Social Credit David H. Friesen 460 4.27%
Total 10,783
Rejected, spoiled and declined 32
Eligible electors / turnout 21,400 50.54%
Liberal pickup new district.
Source(s)
Source: "Edmonton-Castle Downs Official Results 1997 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

2001

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2001 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Thomas A. Lukaszuk 5,971 51.10% 10.55%
Liberal Boris Yaremko 4,479 38.33% -2.99%
New Democratic Michael Charrois 1,235 10.57% -3.29%
Total 11,685
Rejected, spoiled and declined 34
Eligible electors / turnout 24,921 46.95% -3.59%
Progressive Conservative gain from Liberal Swing 6.00%
Source(s)
Source: "Edmonton-Castle Downs Official Results 2001 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

2004 judicial recount

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The 2004 election saw a field of five candidates. Incumbent Thomas Lukaszuk was running for his second term in office after winning a close race in 2001. Chris Kibermannis was chosen as the Liberal candidate. He was a former draft pick for the Winnipeg Jets and a welder by trade. The NDP chose Peter Cross, who is a small business owner working as a graphics artist and long time Edmonton resident.[2]

2004 Alberta general election unofficial results[3] Turnout 41.42%
Affiliation Candidate Votes %
  Liberal Chris Kibermanis 5,019 41.79%
Progressive Conservative Thomas Lukaszuk 5,014 41.75%
  NDP Peter Cross 1,317 10.97%
Alberta Alliance Colin Presizniuk 583 4.85%
  Social Credit Ross Korpi 78 0.64%
Total 12,011 100%
Rejected, spoiled and declined 96

Rounding out the field of candidates, the Alberta Alliance running their first campaign acclaimed candidate Colin Presizniuk and Social Credit run candidate Ross Korpi. Presizniuk is a high-profile Edmonton area accountant and consultant who runs Presizniuk and Associates.[4]

The 2004 election proved to very contentious. On election night returns for the district had Liberal candidate Chris Kibermanis winning an incredibly tight race by three votes over Progressive Conservative incumbent Thomas Lukaszuk. The race split the riding's 79 precincts with Kibermanis winning 43 to Lukaszuk's 36. The poll by poll numbers show the race was evenly divided across the board as no candidate was particularly strong in a geographic area. The other three candidates were only a marginal factor with the race polarizing between the Progressive Conservatives and the Liberals.[3] NDP candidate Peter Cross made a respectable but distant third place showing. He gained votes for his party winning a slightly higher plurality, but decreasing in percentage of popular vote over the 2001 results.

At the bottom of the field, the Alberta Alliance candidate Colin Presizniuk took about 5% of the popular vote. His results were consistent with the party's showing in other Edmonton districts. The Social Credit party running their first candidate in the riding since 1997, saw a significant decrease in support as Ross Korpi barely registered with voters.

The razor thin election night margin separating the two candidates kept the results in doubt. The automatic recount process completed a few days later by returning officer Elizabeth Burk, narrowed the margin even further as Lukaszuk would gain two votes.[5] In addition to the results, voter turnout in the riding dropped to a record low almost reaching 42%. The turn out was significantly down falling five points from the 2001 election, and almost nine percentage points from the election in 1997.

Alberta Court of Appeal judicial recount[6] Turnout 41.42% Swing
Affiliation Candidate Votes % Party Personal
Progressive Conservative Thomas Lukaszuk 5,022 41.78% -9.32%
  Liberal Chris Kibermanis 5,019 41.76% 3.43% *
New Democratic Peter Cross 1,314 10.93% 0.36%
Alberta Alliance Colin Presizniuk 586 4.88%
Social Credit Ross Korpi 78 0.58%
Total 12,019
Rejected, spoiled, and declined 86
Eligible electors / Turnout 29,226  %
Progressive Conservative hold Swing -6.38%

After the Official results were announced by Elections Alberta, the legislative standings on the Alberta Legislature website had been updated to reflect Kibermanis winning as a member-elect. The Progressive Conservatives immediately challenged the results in the Court of Queen's Bench. The first judge at the Court of Queen's Bench upheld the returning officers verdict of a three-vote margin. A second count was done and the results were verified the same as the first. The Progressive Conservatives appealed the results to the Court of Appeal of Alberta.

The Alberta Court of Appeals disputed a number of previously rejected ballots increasing the margin of Thomas Lukaszuk from 5,016 votes to 5,022 votes. The court also added some votes for Presizniuk and took some away for Cross, Korpi and Kibermanis did not see any change in their totals. As a result of the judicial ruling, the previous judicial counts and the Elections Alberta official count were over turned. Kibermanis did not have the resources to appeal the third judicial decision and conceded defeat. Thomas Lukaszuk was declared re-elected and returned to office. After the results were made official, the Liberals announced that Kibermanis would be the candidate for the next general election and would continue campaigning in the riding until the next writ period.

As a direct result of this election, both the campaigns for Thomas Lukaszuk and Chris Kibermanis filed an application to the Court of Appeal to reimburse the legal costs of contesting the results. No provisions existed under the Election Act and the appeals were denied. In October 2005 the Standing Legislative Offices Committee reviewed the matter and changes were recommended to allow candidates to be reimbursed for their legal costs.[5]

2008

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2008 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Thomas A. Lukaszuk 7,159 51.55% 9.77%
Liberal Christopher John Kibermanis 5,090 36.65% -5.11%
New Democratic Ali Haymour 1,341 9.66% -1.28%
Green Bob Reckhow 297 2.14%
Total 13,887
Rejected, spoiled and declined 57
Eligible electors / turnout 34,570 40.31% -0.99%
Progressive Conservative hold Swing 7.44%
Source(s)
Source: "27 - Edmonton-Castle Downs, 2008 Alberta general election". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

2012

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2012 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Thomas A. Lukaszuk 8,054 52.60% 1.05%
Wildrose John Oplanich 3,295 21.52%
New Democratic Brian Labelle 1,934 12.63% 2.97%
Liberal Kim Cassady 1,768 11.55% -25.11%
Alberta Party Jeff Funnell 260 1.70%
Total 15,311
Rejected, spoiled and declined 62
Eligible electors / turnout 30,804 49.91% 9.59%
Progressive Conservative hold Swing 8.09%
Source(s)
Source: "30 - Edmonton-Castle Downs, 2012 Alberta general election". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

2015

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2015 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
New Democratic Nicole Goehring 11,689 64.46% 51.83%
Progressive Conservative Thomas Lukaszuk 4,182 23.06% -29.54%
Wildrose Gerrit Roosenboom 1,383 7.63% -13.89%
Liberal Todd Ross 880 4.85% -6.69%
Total 18,134
Rejected, spoiled and declined 69
Eligible electors / turnout 35,641 51.07% 1.17%
New Democratic gain from Progressive Conservative Swing 5.16%
Source(s)
Source: "30 - Edmonton-Castle Downs, 2015 Alberta general election". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

2019

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2019 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
New Democratic Nicole Goehring 9,445 45.69% -18.77%
United Conservative Ed Ammar 7,428 35.93% 5.24%
Alberta Party Moe Rahall 3,213 15.54%
Alberta Independence Todd Wayne 294 1.42%
Liberal Thomas Deak 291 1.41% -3.44%
Total 20,671
Rejected, spoiled and declined 107 60 14
Eligible electors / turnout 31,953 65.26% 14.19%
New Democratic hold Swing -15.82%
Source(s)
Source: "28 - Edmonton-Castle Downs, 2019 Alberta general election". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
Alberta. Chief Electoral Officer (2019). 2019 General Election. A Report of the Chief Electoral Officer. Volume II (PDF) (Report). Vol. 2. Edmonton, Alta.: Elections Alberta. pp. 108–111. ISBN 978-1-988620-12-1. Retrieved April 7, 2021.

2023

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2023 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
New Democratic Nicole Goehring 10,044 55.69 +9.99
United Conservative Jon Dziadyk 7,286 40.39 +4.46
Alberta Party Patrick Stewart 707 3.92 -11.62
Total 18,037 99.26
Rejected and declined 135 0.74
Turnout 18,172 53.57
Eligible voters 33,921
New Democratic hold Swing +2.77
Source(s)

Senate nominee election results

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2004

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2004 Senate nominee election results: Edmonton-Castle Downs[8] Turnout 41.69%
Affiliation Candidate Votes % votes % ballots Rank
Progressive Conservative Betty Unger 4,737 15.95% 49.04% 2
  Independent Link Byfield 3,362 11.32% 34.80% 4
Progressive Conservative Bert Brown 3,328 11.21% 34.45% 1
Progressive Conservative Cliff Breitkreuz 3,184 10.72% 32.96% 3
Alberta Alliance Michael Roth 2,812 9.47% 29.11% 7
  Independent Tom Sindlinger 2,735 9.21% 28.31% 9
Alberta Alliance Gary Horan 2,488 8.38% 25.76% 10
Alberta Alliance Vance Gough 2,472 8.33% 25.59% 8
Progressive Conservative David Usherwood 2,447 8.24% 25.33% 6
Progressive Conservative Jim Silye 2,129 7.17% 22.04% 5
Total votes 29,694 100%
Total ballots 9,660 3.07 votes per ballot
Rejected, spoiled and declined 2,523

Voters had the option of selecting four candidates on the ballot

2012

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Student vote results

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2004

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Participating schools[9]
Caernarvon School

On November 19, 2004 a student vote was conducted at participating Alberta schools to parallel the 2004 Alberta general election results. The vote was designed to educate students and simulate the electoral process for persons who have not yet reached the legal majority. The vote was conducted in 80 of the 83 provincial electoral districts with students voting for actual election candidates. Schools with a large student body that reside in another electoral district had the option to vote for candidates outside of the electoral district then where they were physically located.

2004 Alberta student vote results[10]
Affiliation Candidate Votes %
  Liberal Chris Kibermanis 46 40.35%
Progressive Conservative Thomas Lukaszuk 30 26.32%
Alberta Alliance Colin Presizniuk 17 14.91%
  NDP Peter Cross 14 12.28%
Social Credit Ross Korpi 7 6.14%
Total 114 100%
Rejected, spoiled and declined 11

2012

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2012 Alberta student vote results
Affiliation Candidate Votes %
Progressive Conservative Thomas Lukaszuk %
Wildrose John Oplanich
  Liberal Kim Cassady %
Alberta Party Jeff Funnell
  NDP Brian Labelle %
Total 100%

References

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  1. ^ "E‑4.1". Statutes of the Province of Alberta. Government of Alberta. 2003. p. 16.
  2. ^ "Peter Cross biography". Alberta NDP. Archived from the original on October 5, 2006. Retrieved March 8, 2008.
  3. ^ a b "Edmonton-Castle Downs of Unofficial Results 2004 Alberta general election". Elections Alberta. Archived from the original on May 18, 2011. Retrieved April 3, 2010.
  4. ^ "homepage". Presizniuk and Associates. Archived from the original on May 13, 2008. Retrieved April 14, 2008.
  5. ^ a b "Legislative Offices Committee" (PDF). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. October 12, 2005. pp. LO-35. Retrieved April 13, 2008.
  6. ^ "Edmonton-Calder Statement of Official Results 2004 Alberta general election" (PDF). Elections Alberta. Retrieved March 27, 2010.
  7. ^ "28 - Edmonton-Castle Downs". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
  8. ^ "Senate Nominee Election 2004 Tabulation of Official Results" (PDF). Elections Alberta. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 4, 2009. Retrieved February 28, 2010.
  9. ^ "School by School results". Student Vote Canada. Archived from the original on October 5, 2007. Retrieved April 18, 2008.
  10. ^ "Riding by Riding Results - the Candidates". Student Vote Canada. Archived from the original on October 6, 2007. Retrieved April 19, 2008.
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53°38′N 113°31′W / 53.63°N 113.51°W / 53.63; -113.51