Anyone outside of the Sask Party running in the Lumsden Morse riding during the 2023 Saskatchewan byelection knew they were going to be for a tough challenge.
The riding has long been a stronghold for the province’s current ruling party, with former MLA Lyle Stewart having held the seat since 1999 and winning the 2020 election with 70 per cent of the vote.
In the end, little changed overall, as Sask Party nominee Blaine McLeod easily retained the seat with 2,648 votes, taking 53.7 per cent of the 4,933 votes cast.
The riding was actually considered a bit of a bellwether for the rest of the province in that it was the only riding with members running from all three parties currently holding seats in the Legislature -- the theory being that if the results were a plurality instead of a majority, things might be getting a little closer than past years.
While that was certainly the case, challenging parties will still have much ground to make up in the next year.
Jon Hromek of the Saskatchewan United Party finished second with 1,121 votes, 22.7 per cent overall, and Kaitlyn Stadnyk of the New Democratic Party ended up third with 1,064 votes, 21.6 per cent of the total, giving the Sask Party around a six per cent majority.
McLeod -- a dairy farmer near Caronport for the past 42 years and the Saskatchewan Director with Dairy Farmers of Canada -- will now represent Lumsden Morse until the full Saskatchewan election in October 2024.
Hromek was the lone major contender to hold his watch party in Moose Jaw, with supporters of the Sask United Party joined by leader Nadine Wilson to take in the results as they happened at The Silo Bar and Grill.
Both Sask United members were ecstatic with how things turned out, especially given the short time frame not only for Hromek’s candidacy, but the Sask United Party in general.
“It was a hard-fought campaign, and we just decided to go two days before the writ dropped, so I’m just in awe of our people and how it all came together,” Hromek said as hundreds of supporters kept an eye on the results on a video board at The Silo.
“Our volunteers and everyone came out of the woodwork and banded together really well. So being over 20 per cent, we’re thinking that’s fantastic. We blew expectations out of the water and I’m happy with it, I’m happy that we’re pushing forward and we’re resonating with people… we only had weeks to get our message out there, so give us a full year, and we’ll see where we’ll be.”
Wilson felt much the same way, pointing out that the party itself is less than a year old.
“I’m really surprised to see how well we’ve done,” she said. “I think we’ve made a real impact on the people of Saskatchewan, we’ve provided them with a conservative alternative that will give a common sense approach.
“We’ve listened to the people of Saskatchewan and they’ve responded really well.”
Les Guillemin of the Buffalo Party picked up 56 votes, Isaiah Hunter of the Sask Green Party had 38 votes.
Two other byelections were also held Thursday, with the NDP flipping two Sask Party-held seats.
The NDP’s Noor Burki easily outdistanced the Sask Party’s Riaz Ahmad with 56.6 per cent of the vote in Regina Coronation Park, and the NDP’s Jared Clarke picked up 54.0 per cent of the vote to defeat the Sask Party’s Nevin Markwart in Regina Walsh Acres.
All voting numbers will change in the coming days, as the secondary preliminary count covering mail-in ballots received before Aug. 8 will be completed on Aug. 12 and the final count including mail-in votes received after Aug. 8 will be completed on Aug. 22.
