It appears that voters in the northwestern constituency of Athabasca will be sending Saskatchewan Party candidate Jim Lemaigre to the provincial legislature.
Preliminary results of Tuesday’s byelection show Lemaigre winning just over 51 per cent of the vote, besting Georgina Jolibois of the NDP with just over 40 per cent of the ballots cast.
Lemaigre is a former RCMP officer who has worked as the program manager for the province’s First Nations and Indigenous Policing Program.
Other candidates in the byelection included Clint Arnason for the Buffalo Party and Darwin Roy as an Independent.
The seat has been vacant since August when former NDP member Buckley Belanger resigned from the legislature to seek the federal Liberal nomination.
Premier Scott Moe thanked voters for electing Lemaigre, noting it is the first time the Saskatchewan Party has elected a candidate in the province’s far north.
“Tonight’s election result is very significant,” Moe said late Tuesday night on Twitter.
“Your SaskParty government has always had MLAs representing every part of the province, except for the far north. That changed tonight. Saskatchewan Party MLAs now represent every part of SK, from border to border to border to border.”
The Elections Saskatchewan website says there will be a second count of ballots on Thursday that will include mail-in ballots, and a final count on Feb. 28.