Liberal caucus trimmed to 5 after Alberta vote

Alberta Liberal Leader Raj Sherman narrowly won his Edmonton seat while his caucus was reduced by three in Monday's election.

Sherman barely held the Edmonton-Meadowlark seat, staving off a challenge from Progressive Conservative candidate Bob Maskell, who took 5,032 votesto the Liberal leader's 5,150.

Speaking to his supporters while his own race was still up in the air, Sherman said the people of Albertahave spoken.

"We must remember a great maxim of democracy: The people are wise," he said.

The Liberals headed into the campaign with an eight-member caucus, four in each of the major cities.

In Edmonton-Centre, Liberal incumbent Laurie Blakeman beat PC candidate Akash Khokhar by about 39 per cent to 31 per cent of the vote.

Liberal incumbent Kent Hehr was re-elected in his riding of Calgary-Buffalo, beating his nearest rival, Tory Jamie Lall, by a wide margin.

And in Calgary-Mountain View, David Swann bested PC candidate Cecillia Low by more than 10 percentage points.

Swann, who like Sherman is a medical doctor, was the Liberal health critic when the election was called on March 26.

In Calgary-McCall, Liberal incumbent Darshan Kang gave his party its fifth seat, beating Wildrose hopeful Grant Galpin by 671 votes after a close race that lasted well into Tuesday morning.