He won the race with a landslide majority, defeating incumbent Social Credit MLA John Anderson and two other candidates to win his first term in office.
[1] After the election, Premier Peter Lougheed appointed Johnston to the cabinet as Minister of Municipal Affairs.
Johnston stood for a second term and won the 1979 Alberta general election; his plurality dropped but he still easily defeated four other candidates.
He won the largest popular vote of his career, taking the district in a landslide and defeating four other candidates.
[4] After the election, Johnston was appointed to his most valuable portfolio yet as the Minister of Finance, holding that post until Ralph Klein became Premier in 1992.