INNISFAIL – From start to finish the governing UCP was an electoral juggernaut.
Once the polls closed the UCP quickly built up big vote leads in the Innisfail-Sylvan Lake riding and across the province.
At 10:35 p.m. CTV news projected UCP incumbent Devin Dreeshen the winner of the riding with nine out of 17 polling stations reporting. Dreeshen had recorded 4,862 votes while NDP challenger Jason Heistad had 1,805.
At 11 p.m. Heistad, once the Sylvan Lake polling station votes were released, conceded the election to Dreeshen to his supporters at his Sylvan Lake campaign office.
He thanked supporters for their dedicated work over the past several months and into the 28-day election campaign.
“It has been a great experience personally, and I am thankful for the relationships I built in the riding,” said Heistad. “I look forward to getting back to my work with municipal council and serving the citizens of Innisfail.”
Heistad was asked shortly after his concession speech whether he was surprised with the riding result but he wanted to wait for the final numbers, noting the Innisfail polling station results had not yet been released.
By late Monday night (May 29), with 16 out of 17 polls reporting, Dreeshen had secured 10,753 votes compared to 3,798 for Heistad.
However, the NDP candidate was gracious in defeat and congratulated Dreeshen for his victory.
“In recognizing his win, we will have another two years working together as he is still the MLA and we will need to work together in the next two years as I will continue to work at the municipal level,” said Heistad, who will now continue his fourth term on Innisfail town council. “My wish is to sit down with Devin and debrief how we can work together in our roles.”
Dreeshen told the Albertan he was humbled with his victory, noting his campaign team worked tirelessly towards victory.
“I am just truly humbled and honoured by the support of people in the riding, and also by the campaign team. We've had an army of volunteers out door-knocking, making phone calls, and getting people out to the polls,” said Dreeshen. “It’s been a huge undertaking by a lot of volunteers and it's extremely humbling to see all that support.”
He said the difference in the campaign overall was the UCP’s “positive” campaign it ran, which he said focused on affordability, low taxes, jobs and the economy.
“I think that those are issues that Albertans care about,” said Dreeshen, noting there were key local issues as well, such as the $1.8 billion investment in the Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre. “I think investments in our health-care system as well as a low tax place to live and to run a business really resonated with Albertans, and in Innisfail-Sylvan Lake and across the province.”
