Early Political Career
Dent's first bid for office took place during the 1955 Alberta election, when he ran in Edmonton for the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation. He placed twenty-fifth of thirty candidates in the first ballot (the riding used a single transferable vote electoral system at the time) and was eliminated from contention on subsequent ballots.
Dent turned his attention to municipal politics; In the 1957 municipal election, he ran for alderman on Edmonton City Council. He finished seventh out of nineteen, falling short of the top five placing needed to be elected. Efforts during the 1959 and 1960 elections (in which he placed tenth of seventeen and eighth of fifteen, respectively) were similarly unsuccessful, and Dent took a two year hiatus from politics to earn his doctorate in educational administration from the University of Oregon.
Upon his return to Edmonton, he ran in the 1963 federal election in Edmonton East for the New Democratic Party. He finished fourth of five candidates, defeating only Communist W A Tuomi as incumbent Progressive Conservative William Skoreyko was handily re-elected.
Dent was finally elected to office in the 1963 municipal election, when he was one of six candidates elected to a one year aldermanic term (he placed fourth of sixteen). He was re-elected to a two year term in the 1964 municipal election, in which he placed fifth of forty-six candidates, and in the 1966 election, in which he placed second out of forty-four candidates.
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