Name Gordon Wright Resigned October 18, 1990 Occupation lawyer, politician | Political party Alberta NDP Died October 18, 1990 Role Politician | |
Born June 28, 1927 ( 1927-06-28 ) Party Alberta New Democratic Party | ||
Gordon Samuel Dales Wright (June 28, 1927 – October 18, 1990) was a lawyer who served as a Crown Prosecutor for the Attorney General's office. He was also former provincial politician and perennial NDP candidate in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1986 until his death.
Political career
Wright was a long time NDP supporter. He first joined the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation party in the 1950s. He ran for provincial office for the NDP for the first time in the 1967 Alberta general election in the electoral district of Edmonton North. Wright had a strong showing but was not elected, finishing third out of fourth losing to incumbent Social Credit MLA Ethel Wilson.
A year after this defeat he ran against Grant Notley in the 1968 NDP leadership election. He lost to Notley by a margin of 27 votes. He then became President of the party, and also later served numerous other positions on the provincial NDP executive.
In the 1971 Alberta general election. Wright ran a second time. This time finishing third place in a field of three candidates in the Edmonton-Belmont electoral district. He finished behind Social Credit candidate Werner Schmidt and Progressive Conservative winner Bert Hohol.
In the 1975 Alberta general election, Wright ran in Edmonton-Strathcona for the first time. He finished a strong second behind incumbent Julian Koziak. He would run against Koziak for the second time in the 1979 Alberta general election this time doubling his popular vote but was unable to defeat him. He would run against Koziak for a third time in the 1982 Alberta general election, Wright would gain another 2000 votes and come within 500 of defeating him in his closest election yet.
After running five times unsuccessfully and three times in Edmonton-Strathcona, Wright was elected to the Alberta Legislature in the 1986 Alberta general election. He defeated incumbent Progressive Conservative MLA Julian Koziak. There were a total of six candidates running in the Edmonton-Strathcona electoral district but the other four candidates were not factors and trailed well behind in support. Wright won his second and final term in the 1989 Alberta general election. All three candidates had strong showings, but Wright easily won the district by a comfortable margin.
He died from Pancreatic Cancer on October 18, 1990.