The Saskatchewan Party has won the election, earning a majority.
The party took a commanding lead from the outset as polling results flooded in after 8 o’clock last night. The end results show the Sask Party with 51 seats, and the NDP with 10.
The constituencies have changed slightly since the 2011 election, when the NDP earned 9 seats and the Sask Party earned 49. There were 3 new constituencies added for this election: Regina Pasqua, Saskatoon Stonebridge-Dakota, and Saskatoon Silverspring-Sutherland, for a total of 61 available seats. 31 were needed to claim majority.
Local Sask Party representative, and incumbent, Colleen Young, was reelected in the Lloydminster riding. She said she was surprised by just how high the numbers were climbing but did remark that she had received mostly positive feedback in her time campaigning in the area.
“I want to thank the people of Lloydminster for their confidence and the trust that they have placed in me as their representative… my commitment to them is to work hard on their behalf, to ensure their voice is heard, and to address concerns, challenges in the best way I possibly can working within the government, and across the province, to ensure that the Lloydminster constituents are well represented.”
Young maintained a vast lead while votes were being counted, and in the end, earned more than 10 times the votes of her closest competitor, which was NDP candidate, Michelle Oleksyn.
“You know, it’s always disappointing but it’s my first time campaign, my first go at it, and it’s one of those things were democracy rules, and the people have spoken,” says Oleksyn.
Other winners in the area were also all Sask Party incumbents: Jeremy Harrison for Meadow Lake, Herb Cox for the Battlefords, and Larry Doke for Cut Knife-Turtleford.