Wildrose candidate Kerry Towle will be heading to Edmonton to represent Innisfail-Sylvan Lake, defeating Progressive Conservative candidate Luke Ouellette, the last representative of 41 year of the Tories being elected in the area.
Unofficial results from 71 of the 72 polling stations reported from Elections Alberta showed a 46 per cent victory with 910 votes separating Towle and runner up Luke Ouellette.
The result came after a neck and neck race between Towle and Ouellette.
"It feels great I think that this is democracy in action," said Towle earlier in the evening. "I think it's great to see voters engaged."
Towle spent the evening watching the results roll in at the R&R Inn and Suites and spoke with the Province close to 9:30 p.m.
While Towle admitted she was hoping it would be a "runaway win" for the Wildrose "it just goes to show how much people want change," she said of the voter turnout. The PCs returned to government making Towle one of a projected 17 Wildrose MLAs.
"It's been an exciting process. It's been a positive process and I hope that whoever takes over this government will listen to Albertans and see that they come first."
Progressive Conservative Luke Ouellette said he's used to a close race. He added it's good to see people went out to the polls to express their concerns.
The election results were difficult to predict for this riding, Ouellette said.
"It's been really hard to read this time. I'm absolutely pleased to be where I am."
Ouellette said he will always be there to help make Alberta a better place.
He was pleased with the majority win for the Progressive Conservatives.
"I'm happy," Ouellette said.
Danielle Klooster, who ran for the Alberta Party, came in at just over five per cent.
"I couldn't be prouder of what we accomplished," Klooster said. "We came from no where."
Klooster is scheduled to head back to work at the Red Deer Chamber of Commerce and as a councillor for the Town of Penhold on Wednesday. She said she heard from a lot of potential voters they felt they couldn't cast a ballot for the her and the Alberta Party in this heavily contested election.
"A lot of people told me 'You know, I wish I could vote for you,'" Klooster said of comments from the campaign trail.
New Democratic Party candidate Patricia Norman came in at five per cent.
"I'm quite pleased," said Norman. "I just saw on the TV right now, and I am pleased. It's where I figured we would be."
Norman did not run a campaign for this election, but had agreed to have her name on the ballot so that "all names to vote for would be available."
"My plan is that I would be in this for the long run," said Norman.
As for what that long-run is moving forward, Norman said, "We really need a constituency association in this area, there's not a lot of consistency. I want to get a voice out there and get people behind me...get some people behind me to help."
Liberal Les Vidok garnered the least votes with four per cent of the vote.
The Liberal candidate for Innisfail-Sylvan Lake said that even though he didn't do very well in the polls, he knew that running in the election was "the right thing to do."
"I'm a person of principles and values," said Les Vidok. "I knew that someone had to stand up. I don't have any regrets. That's politics."
Vidok doesn't know for sure what his future plans are. "I'll evaluate when things settle out," he said. "I'll take it one day at a time. But it does concern me that the (PCs) would win again tonight. They have a sense of entitlement and arrogance. They're all smoke and mirrors."
