David Khan (politician)

David Khan (born May 17, 1974) is a Canadian politician who led the Alberta Liberal Party from 2017 to 2020. Prior to running for leader, he served as the party's executive vice-president.[2] He was elected leader on June 4, 2017.[1][3]

David Khan
Leader of the Alberta Liberal Party
In office
June 4, 2017 – November 22, 2020
Preceded byDavid Swann (interim)
Succeeded byJohn Roggeveen (interim)
Personal details
Born1974 or 1975 (age 49–50)[1]
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Political partyLiberal
Alma materUniversity of British Columbia
University of Toronto
ProfessionConstitutional Lawyer

Political positions

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Khan does not support co-operation with the Alberta Party, but does support forging closer ties with the Liberal Party of Canada.[4] His leadership platform included a basic income pilot project, elimination of the small business tax, proportional representation for the Legislature, more free votes for MLAs, bringing private schools into the public system, and establishing universal pharmacare for those under 24.[5][6]

Personal life

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Born in Calgary,[7] Khan's father was an immigrant to Canada from Pakistan while his mother is English.[8] Professionally, Khan is a lawyer who practices indigenous law and is fluently bilingual in both English and French. He is the first openly gay leader of a major Alberta political party.[9][10]

Election results

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He was previously the party's 2014 by-election candidate in Calgary-West and 2015 provincial election candidate in Calgary-Buffalo, finishing third both times.[11] Khan was also the Liberal candidate in the December 14, 2017 by-election in Calgary-Lougheed. He again placed third, behind United Conservative Party leader Jason Kenney and the NDP candidate.[12] Under his leadership, the Alberta Liberal Party experienced its worst results in history in the 2019 provincial election.

2019 general election

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2019 Alberta general election: Calgary-Mountain View
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
New Democratic Kathleen Ganley 12,526 47.32% 18.45%
United Conservative Jeremy Wong 9,708 36.68% 2.24%
Alberta Party Angela Kokott 2,345 8.86%
Liberal David Khan 1,474 5.57% -31.10%
Green Thana Boonlert 315 1.19%
Alberta Independence Monica Friesz 102 0.39%
Total 26,470
Rejected, spoiled and declined 203 86 7
Eligible electors / turnout 38,316 69.63% 15.24%
New Democratic gain from Liberal Swing 1.43%
Source(s)
Source: "18 - Calgary-Mountain View, 2019 Alberta general election". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

2017 by-election

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Alberta provincial by-election, December 14, 2017: Calgary-Lougheed
Resignation of Dave Rodney
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
United Conservative Jason Kenney 7,760 71.51 +8.35[a]
New Democratic Phillip van der Merwe 1,822 16.79 −15.24
Liberal David Khan 1,009 9.30 +4.49
Reform Lauren Thorsteinson 137 1.26
Green Romy Tittel 60 0.55
Independent Wayne Leslie 42 0.39
Independent Larry Heather 22 0.20
Total valid votes 10,852
Rejected, spoiled and declined 28 2 96
Eligible voters / turnout 31,067 35.03 −16.32
United Conservative notional hold Swing +11.80
  1. ^ Swing is calculated from the sum of Progressive Conservative and Wildrose vote shares.

2015 general election

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2015 Alberta general election: Calgary-Buffalo
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
New Democratic Kathleen T. Ganley 4,671 35.11% 30.39% $3,118
Progressive Conservative Terry Rock 3,738 28.09% -2.58% $92,068
Liberal David Khan 3,282 24.67% -16.80% $54,749
Wildrose Leah Wamboldt 1,351 10.15% -10.97% $2,900
Green Sabrina Lee Levac 263 1.98% $500
Total 13,305
Rejected, spoiled and declined 162
Eligible electors / turnout 32,950 40.87% -3.39%
New Democratic gain from Liberal Swing -1.89%
Source(s)
Source: "05 - Calgary-Buffalo, 2015 Alberta general election". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
"2015-2016 Annual Report of the Chief Electoral Officer" (PDF). Elections Alberta. Retrieved 2018-05-02.

2014 by-election

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Alberta provincial by-election, October 27, 2014: Calgary-West
Resignation of Ken Hughes on September 26, 2014
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Mike Ellis 4,836 44.29 −5.56
Wildrose Sheila Taylor 4,530 41.58 +4.25
Liberal David Khan 927 8.51 +1.05
New Democratic Brian Malkinson 337 3.09 +0.08
Alberta Party Troy Millington 264 2.42 +1.45
Total 10,894
Rejected, spoiled and declined 17 7 1
Eligible electors / turnout 30,541 35.73
Progressive Conservative hold Swing
Source(s)
Alberta. Chief Electoral Officer (2015). Report on the October 27, 2014 By-elections in: Calgary-Elbow, Calgary-Foothills, Calgary-West, Edmonton-Whitemud (PDF) (Report). Edmonton: Legislative Assembly of Alberta; Chief Electoral Officer. ISBN 978-098653678-6. Retrieved April 20, 2021.

References

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  1. ^ a b "David Khan chosen leader of the Alberta Liberal Party". CBC News. Retrieved 2017-06-05.
  2. ^ "Calgary lawyer David Khan wants to lead Alberta's Liberal Party". CBC News. Retrieved 2017-06-05.
  3. ^ "Calgary-based lawyer David Khan named leader of Alberta Liberals". Global News. Retrieved 2017-06-05.
  4. ^ "David Khan". Archived from the original on 2017-05-25. Retrieved 2017-06-05.
  5. ^ "Policy Proposals". David Khan. Archived from the original on 2017-08-05. Retrieved 2017-06-05.
  6. ^ Alberta Liberal Leader David Khan and Liberal MLA David Swann issue Thanksgiving Day StatementArchived 24 February 2019 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ "Alberta Liberal Party". Archived from the original on 2019-05-02. Retrieved 2019-02-23.
  8. ^ "Our Team". Alberta Liberal. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
  9. ^ Kayne, Evan (March 2017). "In our Community: David Khan, Alberta Liberal party leadership candidate". Gay Calgary Magazine. Retrieved April 25, 2017.
  10. ^ 'You're not doing stuff alone': Edmonton Pride parade brings together LGBTQ community, allies
  11. ^ "David Khan selected as leader of the Alberta Liberal Party". CTV News Calgary. 2017-06-04. Retrieved 2017-06-05.
  12. ^ "Liberal Leader David Khan to run in Dec. 14 Calgary byelection | Globalnews.ca".
  13. ^ "Provincial Results. By-election December 14, 2017". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta.
  14. ^ Alberta. Chief Electoral Officer (2018). Report of the Chief Electoral Officer on the December 14, 2017 By-election in Calgary-Lougheed (PDF). Edmonton: Elections Alberta. ISBN 978-1-988620-06-0.
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