The electoral district was created in the 1971 boundary redistribution out of the electoral districts of Calgary Glenmore, Calgary South and Calgary Victoria Park.
The 2010 boundary redistribution saw significant changes to the riding. All territory south of Glenmore Trail was moved to Calgary-Glenmore & the northern boundary shifted, exchanging and losing many different portions of the riding with Calgary-Currie and Calgary-Buffalo.
Legal description from the Statutes of Alberta 2003, Electoral Divisions Act.
Starting at the intersection of Sarcee Trail SW and Richmond Road SW; then 1. northeast along Richmond Road SW to Crowchild Trail SW; 2. south along Crowchild Trail SW to 50 Avenue SW; 3. east along 50 Avenue SW and its easterly extension to the left bank of the Elbow River; 4. generally northwest and north along the left bank of the lbow River to the south easterly extension of the southwest boundary of Block 4, Plan 8035 AG; 5. northwesterly along the extension and the west boundary of Block 4, Plan 8035 AG to its northerly extension with 38 Avenue SW; 6. west along 38 Avenue SW to 14 Street SW; 7. north along 14 Street SW to Council Way SW; 8. northeast along Council Way SW to 10 Street SW; 9. north along 10 Street SW to Premier Way SW; 10. northeasterly along Premier Way SW to 30 Avenue SW; 11. east along 30 Avenue SW to 7 Street SW; 12. north along 7 Street SW to 29 Avenue SW; 13. east along 29 Avenue SW and its extension to the left bank of the Elbow River; 14. generally northeast along the left bank of the Elbow River to Macleod Trail S; 15. south along Macleod Trail S to Glenmore Trail SW; 16. west along Glenmore Trail SW to Elbow Drive SW; 17. south along Elbow Drive SW to Heritage Drive SW; 18. west along Heritage Drive SW and its westerly extension to the east shore of Glenmore Reservoir; 19. in a generally westerly and northerly direction along the east shore of Glenmore Reservoir to Glenmore Trail SW; 20. northwest along Glenmore Trail SW to the west shore of Glenmore Reservoir; 21. in a generally southwesterly and northwesterly direction along the west shore of Glenmore Reservoir to the east boundary of Sec. 25, Twp. 23, Rge. 2 W5; 22. north along the east boundary of Sec. 25 to the west city boundary (near 66 Avenue SW); 23. north and west along the west city boundary to a southerly extension of the Sarcee Trail SW; 24. north along the extension and the Sarcee Trail SW to the starting point.
The electoral district of Calgary-Elbow was created in the boundary redistribution of 1971 from Calgary Glenmore, Calgary South and Calgary Victoria Park. The first election saw architect and former Calgary Victoria Park Progressive Conservative incumbent and Calgary Alderman David Russell run for re-election. He won a hotly contested race over Social Credit candidate L.A. “Chick” Thorssen to pick up the new district for his party.
Upon being elected Russell was appointed into the cabinet of Premier Peter Lougheed. He ran for re-election in 1975 and defeated future Senator Sharon Carstairs in a landslide victory. He would be re-elected with large majorities three more times while continuing to serve in various cabinet portfolios. He would be appointed Deputy Premier by Don Getty in 1985. Russell retired from the legislature in 1989.
The second representative in the riding was former Mayor of Calgary Ralph Klein who, following a party nomination win over business-person Fran Drummond,[5] was elected to his first term in 1989. Klein would win the leadership of the Progressive Conservatives in 1992 and become Premier of the province. He would hold the premiership until December 2006 before resigning his seat in 2007. In total, Klein was re-elected in the Elbow electoral district four times.
A hotly contested by-election was held on June 12, 2007. The winner was Alberta Liberal candidate Craig Cheffins who managed an upset win over well-known local business person Brian Heninger.
The 2008 general election saw Cheffins defeated as Progressive Conservative candidate Alison Redford won back the riding for her party. She was promoted to cabinet by Premier Ed Stelmach following the election.
Redford became Premier of Alberta and leader of the Progressive Conservative party after winning the 2011 Progressive Conservative leadership race. She was re-elected in the 2012 provincial election, but stepped down in 2014 following significant internal party unrest about her leadership.
Calgary-Elbow was one of four provincial seats won by the Progressive Conservatives in the 2014 Alberta by-elections. Former Calgary school board chair and Saskatchewan MLA Gordon Dirks took Calgary-Elbow in this by-election.[6]
In the 2015 provincial electionGreg Clark, the leader of the Alberta Party, was elected MLA, defeating incumbent MLA and Education minister Gordon Dirks. While Clark had a modest showing in the 2012 election, his strong local connections gave him healthy numbers in the 2014 by-election and foreshadowed his 2015 win. Clark led the Alberta Party between 2013 and 2017, stepping down as leader prior to the 2019 general election.[7]
A general election was called in April 2019, with recently nominated United Conservative Party representative Doug Schweitzer defeating Greg Clark. Schweitzer was named to cabinet of the governing Jason Kenney led UCP, first as Justice Minister and later as Minister of Jobs, Economy and Innovation. In a series of announcements, Schweitzer in May, 2022 stated he would not seek re-election in 2023, [8] subsequently resigning from cabinet [9] and finally stepping down as MLA on August 31, 2022, leaving the riding vacant. With some uncertainty in the legislation governing the timing of provincial by-elections, Premier Jason Kenney side-stepped the issue confirming he would leave the matter of a possible by-election to his successor, following the UCP leadership vote on October 6, 2022.[10]
Source: Elections Alberta[12][13][14]Note: Expenses is the sum of "Election Expenses", "Other Expenses" and "Transfers Issued". The Elections Act limits "Election Expenses" to $50,000.
Alberta electoral district
