Political career

Albers ran for the Progressive Conservatives

Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta

The Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta is a provincial centre-right party in the Canadian province of Alberta...

 in the 1989 Alberta general election

Alberta general election, 1989

The Alberta general election of 1989 was the twenty-second general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on March 20, 1989 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....

. He ran in the electoral district of Edmonton Avonmore but was defeated finishing second out of three candidates to New Democrat

Alberta New Democratic Party

The Alberta New Democratic Party or Alberta NDP is a social-democratic political party in Alberta, Canada, which was originally founded as the Alberta section of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation...

 Marie Laing

Marie Laing

Marie Laing, Ph.d.; R.Phsych was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1986 to 1993.-Political career:Laing represented the now-defunct southeast Edmonton riding of Edmonton-Avonmore for the Alberta New Democrats. She currently teaches psychiatry at the University of Alberta in...

. He finished about 300 votes ahead of future Liberal

Alberta Liberal Party

The Alberta Liberal Party is a provincial political party in Alberta, Canada. Originally founded in 1905, when the province was created, it was the dominant political party until 1921 when it was defeated. It has never been in government since that time...

 MLA Don Massey

Don Massey

Don Massey is a former municipal and provincial level politician from Alberta, Canada. He served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1993 until 2004. In that period he also served as Leader of the Official Opposition and Leader of the Alberta Liberal Party in 2004...

.

Albers ran for the leadership of Social Credit

Social Credit Party of Alberta

The Alberta Social Credit Party is a provincial political party in Alberta, Canada, that was founded on the social credit monetary policy and conservative Christian social values....

 in 1999. He defeated two other candidates to win a hotly contested leadership race. Just prior to the 2001 Alberta general election

Alberta general election, 2001

The Alberta general election of 2001 was the twenty-fifth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on March 12, 2001 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....

 he negotiated a coalition with the Alberta Party

Alberta Party

The Alberta Party Political Association, more commonly known as the Alberta Party, is a political party in the province of Alberta, Canada...

 to jointly run candidates under the Social Credit banner.

Despite the coalition with the Alberta Party, the Social Credit party fielded only 12 candidates in the 2001 election. Support for the party was decimated after a large portion of its members bled off to the Alberta First Party

Alberta First Party

The Alberta First Party was a right-wing political party that operated in Alberta, Canada from 1999 until 2003. It was founded by former members of the Social Credit Party of Alberta. The party was registered with Elections Alberta on November 2, 1999...

 and unprecedented popularity of Premier Ralph Klein. Albers resigned shortly before the election and was replaced by Lavern Ahlstrom

Lavern Ahlstrom

Lavern Ahlstrom is a retired provincial level politician and former leader of the Alberta Social Credit Party.-Political career:Ahlstrom first became involved with Social Credit in the 1970s. He has been a perennial candidate for the party with some moderately successful showings during his career...

as leader.