Thurber was first elected to the Alberta Legislature in the 1989 Alberta general election. He won the electoral district of Drayton Valley holding it for the Progressive Conservatives by a wide margin.[2] Drayton Valley was abolished in 1993 and reconstituted into Drayton Valley-Calmar. He ran for re-election in the 1993 Alberta general election and won the new riding with an increased plurality. He ran for a third term in office in the 1997 Alberta general election winning the biggest margin of his career defeating three other candidates.[3] In July 1999 Thurber was one of three Alberta MLAs to participate in the Partnership of Parliaments parliamentarian exchange program with Germany.[4] He retired from public politics at dissolution of the legislature in 2001.
