Ralph Jespersen
{{short description|Canadian politician (1925-2016)}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image =
| imagesize = |
| name = Ralph Andrew Jespersen
| caption =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1925|5|9}}
| death_date ={{Death date and age|2016|10|17|1925|5|9}}
| death_place=Alberta, Canada
| birth_place =Stony Plain, Alberta
| residence =
| office = Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta
| constituency = Stony Plain
| term_start = May 23, 1967
| term_end = August 30, 1971
| predecessor = Cornelia Wood
| successor = William Purdy
| party = Social Credit
| occupation = Dairyman
| spouse = Bernice Jespersen
}}
Ralph Andrew Jespersen (May 9, 1925 – October 17, 2016) was a dairyman and provincial politician from Alberta, Canada.{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MvzvAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Jespersen+,+Ralph+Andrew%22|title=Guide Parlementaire Canadien|year=1971}} He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1967 to 1971, sitting with the governing Social Credit caucus.{{cite web|title=Ralph Jespersen|url=http://obits.dignitymemorial.com/dignity-memorial/obituary.aspx?n=Ralph-Jespersen&lc=3647&pid=182028240&mid=7133398|publisher=Dignity Memorial|access-date=11 April 2017}}
Political career
Jespersen ran for a seat to the Alberta Legislature in the 1967 Alberta general election. He was nominated as the Social Credit candidate in the Stony Plain electoral district on February 13, 1967. In the nomination race he defeated longtime incumbent Cornelia Wood.{{cite news|title=Socred MLA Turned Aside|publisher=The Lethbridge Daily Herald|page=1|work=Vol. LX No. 53|date=February 13, 1967}}
He would face Wood again in the general election as well as two other candidates. Jespersen would take just 36% of the popular vote to win the tight four way race along with defeating Wood for the second time who finished a distant fourth place running as an Independent Social Credit candidate.{{cite web|url=http://www.abheritage.ca/abpolitics/administration/maps_choice.php?Year=1967&Constit=Stony_Plain| title=Stony Plain Official Results 1967 Alberta general election | publisher=Alberta Heritage Community Foundation | access-date=March 14, 2010}}
Jespersen ran for a second term in the 1971 Alberta general election but finished second being defeated by Progressive Conservative candidate William Purdy despite gaining a modest increase in vote percentage.{{cite web|url=http://www.abheritage.ca/abpolitics/administration/maps_choice.php?Year=1971&Constit=Stony_Plain| title=Stony Plain Official Results 1971 Alberta general election | publisher=Alberta Heritage Community Foundation | access-date=March 14, 2010}} Jespersen died on October 17, 2016, at the age of 91.{{cite web| url = http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/edmontonjournal/obituary.aspx?n=ralph-jespersen&pid=182058779&fhid=11381| title = Ralph Jespersen Obituary (1925 - 2016) - Stony Plain, AB - Edmonton Journal}}
References
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External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20070930024650/http://www.assembly.ab.ca/legislaturecentennial/pdf/membersBooklet.pdf Legislative Assembly of Alberta Members Listing]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jespersen, Ralph}}
Category:Alberta Social Credit Party MLAs
Category:20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta