Global News has declared Conservative incumbent Rachael Harder the winner in Lethbridge.
On Monday, Harder received more than 60 per cent of the popular vote.
“The priority will be to hold the Liberals’ feet to the fire. You know we’ve been given the opportunity to be the official opposition, and so it is our responsibility to hold the Liberals to account,” Harder said.
“Certainly we’re proud of the victory that we received in Alberta tonight, I think that Alberta spoke up and they’ve made their voices very loud and very clear, and that is – of course – that we stand for strong Conservative principles here in this province. And going forward, there is great potential that the NDP and Liberals could form a coalition, and as Conservatives – as the official opposition – we’re going to have to assess that.”
NDP candidate Shandi Bleiken was a distant second behind Harder with 244 of 245 polls reporting Monday night.
“I am just excited to show that southern Alberta and Lethbridge have a progressive voice, that people do want to talk about these progressive issues and push for policy that helps everybody and takes care of everybody,” Bleiken said.
WATCH: NDP candidate Shandi Bleiken came up short in her bid to represent the Lethbridge riding in the 2019 election. Jasmine Bala reports.
Amy Bronson rounds out the top three finishers in the Lethbridge riding, and admits running for the Liberal Party in the Lethbridge riding was no easy sell to prospective voters.
“When you run for election in a place like Lethbridge you do think it through, especially for the Liberal Party. I was very aware that this is a tough thing to do, but it is a thing that is worth doing,” Bronson said.
“To have this conversation and show that we do have so much diversity of thought and opinion has been a very rewarding experience.”
WATCH: Liberal candidate Amy Bronson has come up short in her bid to represent Lethbridge in the House of Commons. Emily Olsen has the story.
Green Party candidate Stephnie Watson, People’s Party candidate Grant Hepworth and Christian Heritage Party candidate Marc Slingerland each finished well back, garnering less than five per cent of the popular vote respectively.