REGINA - Scott Moe and the Saskatchewan Party held off major gains by the NDP to win a fifth consecutive majority government on Monday night.
The party standings at the end of the preliminary count on Monday night show the Sask Party with 35 seats, with the NDP winning the other 26 seats. For both parties it is a swing of 13 seats from 2020 when the Sask Party got 48 seats and the NDP 13.
In the popular vote, the Saskatchewan Party received 53 per cent of the vote to the NDP’s 39.5 per cent, a swing away from the Sask Party of about eight per cent from 2020.
The Sask United Party was third with 4.1 per cent, a total that produced no seats. Results for other parties saw the Greens receive 1.8 per cent, the Progressive Conservatives one per cent, the Buffalo Party 0.8 per cent and the Saskatchewan Progress Party 0.2 per cent.
The final party standings could still change pending the counting of more mail-in ballots on Wednesday, and there is also the looming possibility of recounts. The closest race in the province is Saskatoon Westview where incumbent David Buckingham held a 31 vote lead over April ChiefCalf of the NDP after all the polls reported on Monday, with Elections Saskatchewan reporting 291 mail ballots are still to be counted.
For the Sask Party it was a historic fifth majority government in a row, but also the smallest of their five majorities since taking power in 2007. For the NDP it is their highest seat total since they last won government in 2003, when they held 30 seats.
It was a long night of counting with delayed returns from both Regina and Saskatoon. That, as well as the close overall numbers, held up the final projections by news organizations of a majority government by several hours.
After the overall picture finally became clear, Scott Moe accepted victory at his party’s election night gathering in Shellbrook.
“17 years ago you elected a new government in our province and tonight 17 years later you voted to re-elect that very same Saskatchewan Party government. You know and believe, as do I, that Saskatchewan's best days are still ahead of us and you believe that the Saskatchewan Party is the best choice to lead Saskatchewan to that brighter future," he said.
But Moe acknowledged a message was sent to his party, particularly on issues like health, education and affordability.
"I've heard that message, and our team has heard that message, and we must do better and we most certainly will,” said Moe.
“All of us in government, and it starts with myself, we're going to take a little bit of time, we’re going to reflect on the message that was sent here this evening, to reflect on exactly what that means, and you have my word we are going to do that. And we will strive, we will strive to earn back your support.”
There was considerable excitement throughout the evening at the NDP election night at Hilton Doubletree, but in the end the party fell just short. The NDP’s Carla Beck conceded the election, taking note of the gains the party had made.
“We may not have crossed the finish line first tonight, but we have changed the landscape in this province,” said Beck.
“Tonight I am incredibly proud of what we accomplished together. To all those who believed, who supported us, I know you’re feeling disappointed. I’m not going to lie, I’m feeling a bit disappointed. I know this isn’t the result we had hoped for, but to the team tonight is not the end. This election has proven that Saskatchewan wants positive change. Across this province, people are feeling tired of being left behind and seeing the health system crumble, struggling as costs grow faster than their paychecks. The close result tonight is that the people of Saskatchewan want and deserve a government that puts him first and we’re not going to stop until that vision is a reality.”
One major story of the evening was the major gains the NDP made in both Saskatoon and Regina. The NDP swept all 12 Regina seats, and 12 of 14 Saskatoon seats. In the process, the NDP wreaked carnage on the Sask Party’s urban-based cabinet ministers.
All five of the Sask Party’s sitting cabinet ministers from Saskatoon and Regina seeking re-election were defeated, including Minister of Justice and Attorney General Bronwyn Eyre in Stonebridge, Minister of Corrections, Policing and Public Safety Paul Merriman in Silverspring, Minister of Social Services Gene Makowsky in Regina University, Minister of Parks Culture and Sport Laura Ross in Regina Rochdale, and Minister of Environment Christine Tell in Regina Wascana Plains.
That adds to the already long list of departing cabinet ministers, including big names who left prior to the election such as Donna Harpauer, Don Morgan, Don McMorris, Dustin Duncan, Gord Wyant and others.
But with a number of mail-in ballots still to be counted the NDP appears to have fallen short of the total sweep they would have needed in the two largest cities to take power. An important hold for the Sask Party is Saskatoon Willowgrove, a seat won by Ken Cheveldayoff last time by nearly 4,000 votes. This time, with mail in ballots still to come, Cheveldayoff appears to be holding off Alana Wakula of the NDP with 4,525 votes to 4,270.
Another major story that emerged from the evening was that the Sask Party managed to hold on to their seats in both Moose Jaw and Prince Albert. The Sask Party Minister of Rural and Remote Health Tim McLeod in Moose Jaw North, and Megan Patterson in Moose Jaw Wakamow, both won despite a sustained effort by the NDP to flip both of those seats during the election.
In Prince Albert, margins were narrower, but the Sask Party held Prince Albert Carlton with Kevin Kasun and were holding on to Prince Albert Northcote with incumbent Alana Ross at the close of counting Monday.
In Ross’ case, the margin is only 125 votes there over Nicole Rancourt of the NDP and is subject both to more mail-in ballot counting and likely a recount.
As was the case in Moose Jaw, both ridings were heavily targeted with Scott Moe making multiple campaign stops and spending extensive time in Prince Albert during the final week of the campaign to try to save the seats. That effort now appears to have paid off.
Outside the four largest urban areas, it was a near sweep for the Sask Party as they won all those seats with the exception of Athabasca and Cumberland, both of which were won by the NDP. In doing so, they took down Athabasca incumbent Jim Lemaigre who had won the 2022 byelection for the Saskatchewan Party.
The NDP had campaigned to try and knock off Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill in The Battlefords, but in the end the race was not close with Cockrill getting 4,160 votes to 2,533 for Tom Kroczynski of the NDP.
The NDP also fell short in ridings such as Meadow Lake, where Jeremy Harrison won re-election by a two-to-one margin, and Yorkton where newcomer David Chan was elected by 1,233 votes over the NDP.
Seats bordering on the major cities such as Martensville-Blairmore, Warman and White City-Qu’Appelle also ended up being easy wins for the Saskatchewan Party.
As expected, it was no contest in ridings of Sask Party luminaries including the leader Scott Moe in Rosthern-Shellbrook, Everett Hindley in Swift Current, Jim Reiter in Rosetown-Delisle and Colleen Young in Lloydminster.
A major story of the election was the failure of Sask United to make any inroads whatsoever. Both their lone incumbent Nadine Wilson and their leader Jon Hromek were trounced in their ridings, not coming close to winning.
In Saskatchewan Rivers, Eric Schmalz of the Saskatchewan Party won by nearly 2,000 votes over Doug Racine of the NDP. Wilson was a poor third with 804 votes — almost 3,000 behind the winner.
In Lumsden-Morse, Hromek failed to capitalize on any momentum from his second place showing in the 2023 by-election. Sask Party incumbent Blaine McLeod ended up with 4,605, way ahead of Chauntel Baudu of the NDP with 2024 and Hromek third with 1,330.
While the riding was still the best Sask United showing in the province, it was nevertheless a somber night for Hromek supporters at their watch party in Lumsden.
None of the leaders of the other smaller parties were elected either, with Naomi Hunter of the Green Party running third in Saskatoon Riversdale, Rose Buscholl of the PCs running third in Humboldt-Watrous and Phil Zajac of the Buffalo Party running third in Estevan-Big Muddy.
