Upsets and surprises across the province

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/04/2016 (3526 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The 41st provincial election will have no shortage of interesting storylines, so to keep track, here’s a round-up of the most compelling campaigns in the province.

Assiniboia

Former Conservative MP Steven Fletcher (Charleswood-St James-Assiniboia-Headingley) is back in public office — taking this wide-open race with no incumbent, which was previously held by the NDP.

Brandon East

In Brandon East, PC Len Isleifson took Brandon East from NDP cabinet minister Drew Caldwell.

Burrows

The incumbent was Melanie Wight, a backbencher for the NDP. However, Liberal Cindy Lamoureux’s father, Kevin, is a longtime MP for Winnipeg North in the area, had his election team out in full force which could spell trouble for Wight.

Fort Richmond

Incumbent Kerri Irvin-Ross has been an NDP MLA since 2003 and family services minister since 2013. The constituency was created from parts of St. Norbert and Fort Garry in 2008 with the new boundaries in force for the first time in the 2011 election. Irvin-Ross could be vulnerable.

Fort Rouge

After being nominated, the NDP’s Jennifer Howard decided to move to a new job in Ottawa, which made way for Wab Kinew to fly the New Democrat banner in the area. Liberal Leader Rana Bokhari was vying for a seat in the legislature in this constituency, but ended up coming in third to PC candidate Audrew Gordon.

Interlake

The are has voted NDP since its creation in 1981 with Tom Nevakshonoff as its representative since then. However, he came under fire because five years after the Lake Manitoba and Lake St. Martin floods, up to 2,000 residents of the riding remain evacuated from their homes. In the end PC Derek Johnson knocked him off, and Nevakshonoff was reduced to third place.

Kirkfield Park

The NDP’s Sharon Blady only won by 21 votes in 2011, but PC Scott Fielding, a popular former city councillor, saw the riding change hands.

Rossmere

Incumbent Erna Braun was elected as NDP MLA in 2007. The Tories elected Vic Toews here in 1995, and the Tories remained a strong second every time since… and 2016 is the year they took the riding back, with Andrew Micklefield winning by a fair margin.

Riel

Christine Melnick, first elected in 2003, faced off against Tory Rochelle Squires in a rematch of the 2011 campaign, but this time Squires took the win. A one-time cabinet minister, Melnick was booted out of the NDP caucus in 2014 after a run-in with Greg Selinger. She was invited back in November of that year.

St. James

St. James was predicted to be a close one, because NDP’s Deanne Crothers won by a little more than 1,000 votes in 2011 against the PCs.  The parties reversed roles this time around.

St. Johns

This one was interesting. St. Johns has been in the NDP hands since the 1960s and was wide open this time around after Gord Mackintosh announced after 23 years he wasn’t seking re-election. Nahanni Fontaine is a nationally known indigenous activist and seen as one of the faces of renewal for the party.

St. Vital

This wis anothe district with no incumbent. NDP MLA Nancy Allan, who has held the seat since 1999, did not seek re-election. Before 1999, St. Vital was mainly a Tory preserve, although all three major parties have won the seat since 1958.

Seine River

No incumbent: Theresa Oswald, who challenged Greg Selinger for the NDP leadership, has held the seat since 2003. She did not seek re-election. Before 2003, it was a Tory seat, and it solidly returned to Tory territory Tuesday night.

Selkirk

Selkirk is a classic swing seat. The area has selected candidate of winning party in 15 of 16 past elections; the only exception was in 1999. It proved itself this time around again, as PC Alan Lagimodiere snatched the seat away from former NDP finance minister Greg Dewar.

Southdale

This constituency has not had an MLA since September when NDPer Erin Selby resigned to run in the federal election. Selby was one of the so-called Gang of Five cabinet ministers who rebelled against Greg Selinger’s leadership in 2014. Southdale was a Tory stronghold until Selby won it in 2007, and it returned to its Tory roots on Tuesday.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

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Tyndall Park

The Liberals came sort of close to winning in 2011, getting 34 per cent of the vote to the NDP’s 44 per cent.

Wolseley

A nail-biter of a race sees incumbent longtime NDP MLA Rob Altemeyer trading a lead measured in dozens of votes with Green candidate David Nickarz.  If Nickarz takes the win, he’ll become the first-ever Green MLA in Manitoba.