It is official.
Election 2011 is over in Saskatchewan and the Saskatchewan Party is the majority government for the second time in a row.
Having won by a landslide, the government will continue as the majority government for the next four years. With 64.2 percent of the popular vote, the Saskatchewan Party claimed 49 of the possible 58 seats during this election.
The numbers from this election resulted in a historic high. Previously, the largest popular vote in the province resulted from the election of 1912 where the Liberals gained 57 percent of the popular vote.
Following the Saskatchewan Party in the results was the New Democratic Party, which polled in at 31.9 percent and resulted in nine seats. With those numbers, the New Democratic Party experienced its worst general election since 1982. Dwain Lingenfelter, who was elected leader of the NDP in 2009 replacing Lorne Calvert, has since resigned as party leader in a media scrum following the election. Lingenfelter was defeated in his own riding of Regina Douglas Park, losing out to the Saskatchewan Party's Russ Marchuk.
Liberal Party ran nine candidates this year, receiving a total of 0.6 percent of the vote.
The Green Party, which ran a full slate of candidates, did not come close to winning any seats.
Prior to the election being called on October 10, the Saskatchewan Party held 38 seats and the New Democratic Party held 20.
Locally, the results were very much the same. Dan D'Autremont was re-elected with 75 percent of the popular vote, meaning Cannington constituency continues to be represented by the Saskatchewan Party. "It was a great night for the Saskatchewan Party," said D'Autremont. "It was a great night for both Cannington and Saskatchewan.
D'Autremont, who was surrounded by campaign officers, family and close friends at this campaign office in Redvers when his win was announced, was "surprised by the size of the win. My expectation was that we would pick up three or four seats maybe. I did not expect that we would pick up 11. It is further indication that the people of Saskatchewan want to move forward in a very fast pace to prosperity and a different climate than what we have had in Saskatchewan for the last many years."
Looking forward, the results mean "that we will continue to provide government that allows for prosperity and growth in Saskatchewan. I think that is extremely important. We have huge potential. Things are growing and people are excited about the opportunities in Saskatchewan."
"Thank you to all the people who went out and voted last night for all the candidates. The campaign down here [in Cannington] was a good solid campaign, with no personal attacks made by anybody."
D'Autremont's opposition in the constituency included Todd Gervais of the New Democratic Party, who received 14.8 percent of the vote. Progressive Conservative candidate Chris Brown received 8 percent of the vote, while Green Party candidate Daniel Johnson picked up 2 percent of the vote.
Voter turnout was down this year province-wide by a full 10 percentage points as 66 percent of the eligible population cast their vote, as compared to 76 percent in 2007. The advance polling stations saw a total of 66,602 ballets cast over five-days. Locally, voter turnout was even lower with a 63 percent turnout.
