Innisfail- Sylvan Lake MLA Devin Dreeshen has earned another term in the legislature.
The former minister of transportation and economic corridors was unofficially declared the winner of the riding Monday night, capturing 16,397 votes out of 22,918 in the riding.
Dreeshen won the UCP nomination for Innisfail-Sylvan Lake back in 2018, after Don McIntyre resigned the seat. Dreeshen won nearly 80 per cent of the vote in the July 2018 by-election. In the 2019 election, Dreeshen earned 19,030 votes, about 74 per cent of voters.
“The numbers between the two elections are still fairly close and this election we still saw a strong showing with getting approximately 72 per cent of the vote in Innisfail-Sylvan Lake,” he said.
The election win wouldn’t have been possible without the members of the constituency.
“It took an army of volunteers to run this campaign. We had scrutineers at all the polling stations, people were putting up lawn signs and I think there was an incredible show of support for the UCP because of the positive tone and the positive campaign we ran,” Dreeshen said.
While there were many highlights on the campaign trail, having the face to face interactions are always the most important, Dreeshen said.
“The door knocking is always the highlight for me, going door to door talking to people and getting what their interests are. Getting out and talking to people one on one is always a highlight and very important to me.”
Being re-elected Dreeshen is proud to represent the residents of the riding of Innisfail-Sylvan Lake in the Legislature again.
“I’m just humbled to serve the people and having the chance to continue to listen to people and understand their priorities whether it is health care funding, roads or other new projects.”
Other candidates that ran in the Innisfail-Sylvan Lake riding include Jason Heistad (NDP) who received 25 per cent of the vote with 5,724 votes, Jeevan Mangat (Wildrose Independence) who received 1.1 per cent of the vote with 246 votes, Brandon Pringle (Solidarity Movement of Alberta) who received 0.6 per cent of the vote with 143 votes, David Reid (Independence Party of Alberta) who received 1.2 per cent of the vote with 276 votes and Randy Thorsteinson (Reform Party) who received 0.6 per cent of the vote with 132 votes.
@sarahbaker
sarah.baker@blackpress.ca
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
