Rural ridings split between 2 conservative parties

The Alberta election results show a north-south split in rural electoral divisions between the Progressive Conservatives and the Wildrose.

Rural ridings in the north have mostly gone with the PCs, with the south heading over to the Wildrose.

While the rural vote has traditionally gone Tory, the Wildrose Party had been polling well outside ofAlberta's urban centres during the entire election campaign.

Some of the bigger races included Tory candidate Ted Morton in ChestermereRocky View. The longtime cabinet minister lost his seat to Wildrose candidate Bruce McAllister, who grabbed roughly 58 per cent of the popular vote in the riding.

Another big race was in DunveganCentral PeaceNotley, where PC candidate Hector Goudreau, who previously served as the minister of tourism, parks, recreation and cultureand minister of employment and immigration,won with 227 votes over Wildrose candidate Kelly Hudson.

In the riding of Grande PrairieWapiti, whereCBC's Vote Compass respondents said they wanted "much less" government say over land ownership, PC candidate Wayne Drysdaletook the popular vote despite displeasure with recent land bills introduced by the Tory government.