Alberta Liberals elect David Khan as new leader – Calgary Herald

David Khan.

The newly elected leader of the Alberta Liberals says he will focus on rebuilding and re-energizing the party.

Calgary lawyer David Khan won the leadership Sunday evening with 54.8 per cent of the vote, defeating his sole opponent, Kerry Cundal. There were 1,671 total votes and 10 abstentions.

Its been a whirlwind, its been a really busy past two months, but Im so excited about the energy in this room, Khan told a room of supporters at Hotel Arts.

There are so many Liberals, old and new, that are part of our party now and Im really excited about moving liberalism forward in Alberta.

Khan served as the Alberta Liberals executive vice-president before entering the race. He ran as a candidate in Calgary-Buffalo in the 2015 provincial election and as a byelection candidate in Calgary-West in 2014.

His immediate focus is to unite liberals in Alberta and become a real force in the next provincial election.

Make no mistake, it is not Liberal ideas, it is not Liberal values and its not even the Liberal name that has held our party back. We need to stay true to ourselves and who we are and what we stand for, he said.

Theres new people, theres new energy, and we need a new vision and need to move this province forward for the benefit of all.

The only Liberal to be elected in the 2015 general election was Calgary-Mountain View MLA David Swann. Khan hopes to dramatically improve on that result.

That was a change election, that was an anomaly. Thats not the support that we have going forward, he said.

Khan said organizing, fundraising and electing more Liberals are the most crucial areas that need improvement.

Financial reports for the first quarter posted on the Elections Alberta website in April showed the Alberta Liberals and its constituency associations raised $47,959 for the period. For comparison, the governing NDP took in $373,060.

History isnt why we are here today, Khan said. We are here for the future, and it looks promising for Liberals and all Albertans.

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Alberta Liberals elect David Khan as new leader - Calgary Herald