Scott Moe delivered a speech after the Sask. Party won its majority government. (Logan Lehmann /paNOW Staff)

By paNOW Staff

SASKATCHEWAN VOTES

Sask. Party maintains majority government, NDP gains seats

Oct 28, 2024 | 11:25 PM

The Saskatchewan Party will form a fifth consecutive majority government.

Preliminary results from the province’s 30th general election show the Sask Party was elected in 35 constituencies and the Saskatchewan NDP was elected in 26 – almost double their seat total from the 14 it had at dissolution. The NDP made its big gains through Regina and Saskatoon while rural Saskatchewan remained mostly green.

Saskatchewan Party leader Scott Moe retained his seat in the Shellbrook-Rosthern constituency.

“We’ve heard on the doorsteps and in our community that your expectations of a government is of a government that will do better when it comes to accessing healthcare services,” he said during a speech at the Richardson Pioneer Rink in Shellbrook. “Your expectations is to have a government that will do better in supporting our children in their education. A government that will do better in representing you. Tomorrow, we’re going to go back to work.”

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In Prince Albert Northcote, Alana Ross celebrated a narrow victory for the Sask.Party. Following preliminary results Ross had 125 more votes than the NDP’s Nicole Rancourt. However, 197 mail-in ballots still need to be counted.

“I’ve had such wonderful support from the people of Northcote and I can’t thank them enough for having some faith in in me and what we’ve been able to accomplish for the community,” she said.

With respect to the key issue on the doorsteps, Ross confirmed it was crime.

“And you know, being able to explain the Marshal service and and how it came about and what the focus of it is going to be, I think really helped a lot,” she said.

Kevin Kasun was supported by his wife Shevawn. (Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

Over in Prince Albert Carlton, Kevin Kasun won for the Sask. Party. He garnered 3007 votes, compared to the NDP’s 2533 for Carolyn Brost-Stromm. Kasun said the results show constituents wanted stability.

“I think stability. There was a lot of doors I hit, cause I hit a lot of doors…it’s a lot of work and a lot of people said we don’t want change. We ‘re not ready for change. We like the way things are. We don’t need a change and I actually got that on quite a few doors,” said Kasun.

Eric Schmalz will be the new Sask. Party MLA for Saskatchewan Rivers winning the seat over the NDP’s Doug Racine and Saskatchewan United Party leader and incumbent Nadine Wilson.

“Feeling great. We’ve had a tremendous campaign, tremendous response from the public,” he said. “I’m just really, really humbled at the amount of support.”

Eric Schmalz celebrates with his wife. (Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

The northern riding of Athabasca flipped from Sask. Party back to NDP with a win for Leroy Laliberte over Jim Lemaigre. Athabasca is generally considered one of the safest NDP seats in Saskatchewan, but the Sask Party held it for two years after Lemaigre won a by-election in 2022 with 51.3 per cent of the vote. Prior to that, the NDP held the riding almost continuously since 1975. This time around, the NDP garnered 1788 votes to the Sask Party’s 1005.

Cumberland also remained orange with the NDP’s Jordan McPhail.

“I am really proud of the campaign that we’ve ran. It’s the largest geographic constituency in all of Saskatchewan, lots of kilometers of the vehicle, feeling really proud of the hard work of the volunteers, staff and everyone who got out to vote in the election so far,” McPhail said. “We know with every election, it’s not over until the last ballot is counted and so, again, we are really proud of the work we are doing here and we’re watching the results as everyone is. We’re looking forward to the NDP surging ahead here and so really appreciate the work of all of the folks here of the local campaign.”

Darlene Rowden will be the MLA for Batoche after claiming nearly double the vote over the NDP’s Trina Miller. Rowden replaced Delbert Kirsch, as the long-serving MLA elected not to run.

Jeremy Cockrill was re-elected in The Battlefords riding.

“I think it really reflects the work we’ve put in over the last several months and specifically this last week — voting week looked a little different this time,” he said.

Saskatchewan NDP Candidate Tom Kroczynski’s results didn’t go his way, and when asked about how he felt after seeing the results he said: “We didn’t quite make it, but thanks from the bottom of my heart to all of those people who voted for me and who offered their support.”

In the Cut Knife-Turtleford constituency, it will be James Thorsteinson of the Sask. Party as MLA.

Kindersley-Biggar and the Lloydminster constituencies were both runaways for the Sask. Party with Kim Gartner and Colleen Young respectively.

Despite the loss, NDP candidate for Lloydminster Adam Tremblay said the overall results gave him optimism for his party’s future in Saskatchewan.

“It shows that things are changing even for Lloydminster and I’ve said this to a number of people tonight, this isn’t the end of anything, this is just the beginning of so much more,” he said.

Jeremy Harrison of the Sask. Party will retain his seat in Meadow Lake.

“I am deeply humbled to be elected as the representative for the Meadow Lake constituency. Representing my home community in the legislature has been the great honour of my life,” he said. “As always, I remain committed to addressing the issues that matter most to my constituents, from improving local services to fostering economic growth. I’d like to thank my team, volunteers, and constituents for their continued trust and support.”

Racquel Hilbert is the new MLA for Humboldt-Watrous. The Sask. Party candidate, who replaced retiring MLA and Finance Minister Donna Harpauer, received nearly 60 per cent of the vote.

Kevin Fallis of the NDP finished second in the riding and said he’s proud of the campaign they ran, both in the riding and provincially. Fallis congratulated Hilbert on her victory in the constituency. He told northeastNOW the Sask. Party has held the riding for over two decades, and it was an uphill battle.

“I knew it was going to be a tough riding,” said Fallis. “Where the vote would come out, I had no idea.”

In Kelvington-Wadena, Chris Beaudry of the Saskatchewan Party won the riding, receiving about 65 per cent of the vote.

Melfort incumbent Todd Goudy poses with his wife Tannis as they celebrate his re-election victory. (Cam Lee/northeastNOW)

Melfort re-elected Todd Goudy of the Sask. Party with a sizeable win over the NDP. He said he’s thrilled to return for another four-year term. He said health care and education are two of the significant topics he heard about on doorsteps during his campaign along with highways, personal safety and mental health.

“In our constituency, it’s been good to work with… industry is sort of the bedrock of our economy and some of the things that the industry partners have been asking for and then on the social side I think education is going to have some changes over the next while that teachers have been talking about — classroom complexity and the parents and kids. So obviously we’ll be working on that.”

In Carrot River Valley Terri Bromm the Sask. Party candidate easily won the riding with 65 per cent of the vote. Bromm was named the Sask. Party candidate after the retirement of longtime MLA Fred Bradshaw.

“I’m hoping to be a strong voice for the constituents here in Carrot River Valley. I plan to work hard and be a good representative for all that live here,” Bromm said.

These are the results of the preliminary count, which includes voting week, personal care facilities and homebound ballots. There is a second preliminary count on Oct. 30 which includes mail ballots received by Oct. 26 and the final count is on Nov. 9 which will include vote by mail ballots received between Oct. 27 and Nov. 7 and special ballots (hospital, remand, temporarily displaced).

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panews@panow.com