NDP Leader Brian Mason has been re-elected in his home riding of Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood.
With 69 of 71 polls reporting in Monday night's Alberta election, Mason had almost 51 per cent of the votes, while his nearest rival, Conservative Andrew Beniuk, had 32 per cent.
In the last election, Mason also won his seat by a wide margin.
This is Mason's second election as party leader and his fourth in provincial politics.
He took over the party just before the 2004 provincial election from Raj Pannu and doubled the party's seats from two to four.
The 54-year-old former bus driver has a reputation as a scrappy defender of what he calls "the average Alberta family," many of whom he says are being left behind by Alberta's economic boom.
As party leader, he has consistently managed to grab more headlines than the much larger Liberal party by being the first to call for popular ideas like rent controls and improved health-care funding.
Mason honed his political skills with an 11-year stint on Edmonton city council, where he represented a northeast city riding, an area with lower-than-average incomes.
His provincial riding, which mirrors the area he represented on city council, has the second-lowest average incomes in Alberta.
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Riding Profiles
More Alberta Votes Headlines »
- It's 'Ed's Empire' after Alberta election sweep
- Political observers in Alberta are calling it remarkable and opposition politicians are wondering what hit them after Ed Stelmach guided his Conservative party Monday to one of its biggest majorities ever.
- Low voter turnout in Alberta election being questioned
- As Premier Ed Stelmach and Alberta Conservatives savour their sweeping election victory, some people are raising a nagging concern: why so few people bothered to vote.
- Albertans elect historic 11th straight Tory government
- Voters in Alberta stuck with tried-and-true blue, giving the Progressive Conservative party an unprecedented 11th consecutive majority government in Monday's provincial election.
- Political tide turns in Edmonton
- Alberta Progressive Conservative Leader Ed Stelmach has proven true to his word, putting the "Ed" back in Edmonton.
- Conservatives' Calgary fortress resists change
- The Progressive Conservatives' fortress in Calgary stood strong as the party took 18 of the city's 23 ridings Monday night.
