It was a tight election race but Scott Moe secured the Saskatchewan Party’s fifth-straight majority, defeating challenger Carla Beck’s NDP that was looking to take back government for the first time since 2007.
While the official count is still ongoing, Global News is projecting the Saskatchewan Party will form a majority government in the 61-seat legislature.
This was the Sask. Party’s second election under Moe.
Moe retained his seat in Rosthern-Shellbrook shortly after polls closed with 63 per cent of the vote, although he received less of the popular vote than in 2020, when he won 79.5 per cent of the votes in the riding.
“I was going to say good evening, but I think I’ll actually good morning – what a great day to be in Saskatchewan,” Moe joked at the start of his victory speech that came after a long evening of vote counting that stretched into Tuesday morning.
With Krista, his wife of 31 years at his side, Moe thanked Saskatchewan residents for placing their trust once again in him and the governing party.
He also praised the efforts of the party workers and volunteers, knowing the election was going to be a battle.
“We knew when we started this campaign that it was going to be a challenging campaign – recent history has not been kind to incumbent majority governing parties in this nation or around the world.”
Moe also acknowledged Beck, saying she ran a strong campaign. He addressed those who didn’t vote for the Saskatchewan Party.
“I would say this: I have heard the message that was delivered here this evening and the Saskatchewan Party will be a government that works for all of the people of Saskatchewan.”
The early results unfolded as expected, with the Sask. Party dominating rural constituencies and the NDP taking charge in the cities.
Beck secured her seat in the riding of Regina Lakeview with 70 per cent of the vote — and increase from 2020, when she got 65 per cent.
The New Democrats effectively doubled their seat total from the 14 they had at dissolution, retaining seats and gaining more in Regina and Saskatoon.
Flanked by her family, Beck said she was proud of the campaign the NDP ran while delivering her concession speech.
“Friends, we came so close,” she said, adding at the start of the campaign there were some that didn’t expect much from the party but the results show some residents want change. “We gave people a reason to hope again. That’s not nothing – in fact, that’s a victory in its own right.”
Beck thanked party workers and volunteers, as well as those who believed in the NDP.
“We might not have crossed the finish line tonight but friends, we have changed the landscape in this province.”
The NDP leader congratulated Moe in his victory while also sending a message about the tight race.
“Tens of thousands of Saskatchewan people have sent you a message that they want better for their province, and we’ll be there to hold you accountable every step of the way.”
Rural vs. urban divide grows in Saskatchewan
Political analyst Ken Coates said the results emerging on Monday night made him nervous.
“You have a situation where one part of the province votes overwhelmingly in one direction, the other part of the province — the cities — vote overwhelming in the opposite way. The cities are the economic engines in some ways — not the natural resource sector — but in terms of the universities, the new economy and all this kind of stuff.
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“You’re looking at a province here that’s going off in two different directions.”
Neither the NDP or Sask. Party offered a vision that broadly appealed to voters across the province, Coates said.
“The NDP hasn’t articulated a rural vision, and the Saskatchewan Party has not articulated an urban vision, and that is not healthy for the province.”
While the Sask. Party did well in the cities in the past few elections — Coates noted they won almost all the wealthier parts of the cities — in recent elections and could claim to understand urban places, that changed in this election.
“Now you’re looking at a situation where the cities go one way and they have a very different set of values and issues and concerns than the rural areas.”
It’s a trend that has played out across Canada in recent years, he noted.
“Southern Ontario has gotten the same mess. Manitoba is exactly in the same situation, and British Columbia’s recent election is tied entirely to the rural-urban split.
“I don’t think this is very healthy for Canada and our politicians on all sides have work to do.”
In his victory speech, Moe shot down suggestions of a rural-urban divide.
“Now, some may allude to tonight’s results that it means we’re divided in this province and I would disagree with that. I know, regardless of who you voted for in this election, you did so because you wanted what was best for the province we know, love and live in.
“In this, I would say each of us is united.”
Cabinet ministers: Who retained their seats and who lost?
Going forward, the makeup of the party will look quite different after five high-profile ministers bowed out of running again.
On Monday night, Energy Minister Jim Reiter was re-elected in Rosetown-Delisle, marking his fourth consecutive term in office.
Agriculture Minister David Marit won his riding of Wood River. Highways Minister Lori Carr was re-elected in Estevan-Big Muddy while Advanced Education Minister Colleen Young in Lloydminster was also been re-elected.
Trade and Immigration Minister Jeremy Harrison was re-elected in Meadow Lake. Harrison came under fire this spring after former Speaker and Saskatchewan Party MLA Randy Weekes accused Harrison of bullying. Weekes also said that Harrison brought a long gun to the legislature, which Harrison later admitted and resigned his role as house leader.
Health Minister Everett Hindley was re-elected in Swift Current, defeating NDP challenger Jay Kimball. Hindley has represented Swift Current since 2018, when he won a byelection to replace longtime Saskatchewan Party leader and former premier Brad Wall.
Jeremy Cockrill, the minister of education, hung on to his seat in The Battlefords despite being under two separate conflict of interest investigations since August.
Terry Jenson, meanwhile, will serve his second term as the representative for Warman.
Mental Health and Addictions Minister Tim McLeod was been re-elected in Moose Jaw North. His victory takes away a seat that was thought to be critical for the NDP’s chances to form government.
Whether these incumbents retain their former portfolios or Moe chooses a drastically different cabinet after swearing-in remains to be seen.
As of late Monday night, five Saskatchewan Party cabinet ministers had lost their re-election bids.
Justice Minister Bronwyn Eyre lost to Darcy Warrington in Saskatoon Stonebridge.
Parks, Culture and Sport Minister Laura Ross was defeated by Joan Pratchler in Regina Rochdale. Ross had served as a Saskatchewan Party MLA in multiple districts since 2007.
Environment Minister Christine Tell lost her riding of Regina Wascana Plains to the NDP’s Brent Blakley.
Social Services Minister Gene Makowsky lost his seat in the riding of Regina University to the NDP’s Sally Housser.
Minister of Corrections, Policing and Public Safety Paul Merriman lost his seat of Saskatoon Silverspring-Sutherland in a tight race to the Ndp’s Hugh Gordon.
Justice Minister and Attorney General Bronwyn Eyre lost their seat in Saskatoon Stonebridge the NDP’s Darcy Warrington.
Former Humboldt Broncos staffer elected
Chris Beaudry, a member of the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team coaching staff in 2018 when the devastating bus crash took place, was elected in Kelvington-Wadena as a Saskatchewan Party candidate.
Beaudry wasn’t on the bus when the crash happened. He replaces two-term Saskatchewan Party MLA Hugh Nerlien, who decided not to run for re-election in 2024.
Saskatchewan United Party leader fails to secure a seat in the legislature
Saskatchewan United Party Leader Jon Hromek lost his election bid in Lumsden-Morse to Saskatchewan Party candidate Blaine McLeod. Hromek took over as party leader from Nadine Wilson, a former Saskatchewan Party MLA.
Wilson formed the party in 2022 after resigning from the Saskatchewan Party after she lied about her vaccination status during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021.
Saskatchewan legislature at dissolution
At dissolution, the governing Saskatchewan Party had 42 seats, while the Opposition NDP had 14. There were four Independents and one seat was vacant.
Moe had been premier for the last six years heading into the election. Political experts predicted Moe would win again, given his party’s strength in rural areas, but the question was: How small of a Saskatchewan Party majority could it be?
Polls suggested a tight race between both parties.
To win a majority in the 61-seat legislature, the NDP would have needed to have won the 28 seats in the three largest cities — Saskatoon, Regina and Prince Albert — and hoped for help elsewhere.
The NDP’s margin of error was razor thin. It needed wins in the two seats in Moose Jaw and the two in Prince Albert — but failed to get them.
The 27-day campaign largely focused on health care, affordability and crime, though Moe raised the issue of school change rooms later in the race.
In his pledge, Moe said his first order of business if re-elected would be to ban “biological boys” from using school changing rooms with “biological girls.”
He made the promise after learning of a complaint at a southeast Saskatchewan school about two biological boys using a girls change room. The pledge was not previously included in his party’s platform document. A parent of the two children subject to the complaint is an NDP candidate. Moe has said he didn’t know that when he made the promise.
Beck has said the ban would make vulnerable kids more vulnerable. She also promised to repeal a Saskatchewan Party law that requires parental consent when children under 16 want to change their names and pronouns at school.
Beck said voters want the next government to deal with more pressing issues, including classroom sizes, fixing health care and being able to afford gas and groceries.
During the campaign, Moe promised broad tax relief and to continue withholding federal carbon levy payments to Ottawa.
His platform is to cost an additional $1.2 billion over four years. He says his tax reduction plan would save a family of four $3,400 over four years. It also includes tax credits for those looking to grow their families or put their children in sports and arts.
— More to come…
– With files from Jeremy Simes and Aaron Sousa, The Canadian Press and Andrew Benson, Global News
