“I will be a representative first, politician second.”
Ken Francis Landslides Kindersley Constituency By-Election
Last Thursday, Ken Francis of the Saskatchewan Party was elected to the seat of the Kindersley Constituency after it was vacated by Bill Boyd early fall of 2017. Out of the 3,792 votes cast during the by-election, Francis collected a whopping 3,339 ballots or 88.1% of the vote. The remaining 11.9% of the ballots were split between runner-up candidate, Travis Hebert of the New Democratic Party (NDP), Yvonne Potter-Pihach of the Green Party and two lone disqualified ballots.
The win of the Saskatchewan party was not a surprise to the constituency as the Saskatchewan Party traditionally holds a strong sway in the area, but the wide margin between the votes was not expected. Hebert, the undisputed NDP candidate for the area just nicked into the votes with a slender 9.9% of the vote, and Potter-Pihach gained only 2%.
Both Francis and Hebert both displayed the marks of good politicians when they each had something good to say about the other in the voting aftermath. “[Hebert] has enthusiasm and gumption, I don’t know if at 22 I would have been willing to throw my hat in the ring of politics.” Francis said he had enjoyed meeting Hebert at a pizza meet ‘n’ greet Hebert held during the campaign.
Hebert returned the respect and said that after the results came in, he called Francis’ office and offered his congratulations. “I feel that [Francis] will do his best to represent the interests of the Kindersley constituency.” Hebert took the results of the race in a stride and says it has not shaken his resolve to pursue politics. “I’m not done yet.”
This election was at least the second time Potter-Pihach was beaten in an election, as she lost to Rosemarie Falk in the federal Battlefords-Lloydminster by-election in November 2017. She was not available for comment after the election results.
Francis says his first action will be to organize and gather staff for his MLA office before traveling to Regina for his swearing-in ceremony that will be in a few days, but his original vision has not changed. “I will aim to be a representative first, a politician second.” Francis promised a crowd of supporters at their gathering in the Norman Ritchie Centre after the polls closed. Francis went on to say how he aimed to bring Kindersley to Regina, and not the other way ‘round.
During his campaign, Francis said he would use a “grassroots approach” to growing the Kindersley Constituency forward. The focuses included the foundational concerns of the communities in the constituency: education and health services, upgrading health facilities and highways — including pushing for passing lanes for Highway 7 from Rosetown to the Alberta border — and focusing on building Saskatchewan strong from the ground up.
Kindersley was not the only Saskatchewan constituency to hold a by-election, Melfort and Swift Current also held elections to replace seats vacated by the sudden death of MLA Kevin Philips and retiring former Premier Brad Wall. The Saskatchewan Party held easy leads in each election, though Francis held the greatest majority lead at 88% while Todd Goudy took Melfort with 79% and Everett Hindley replaced Wall in Swift Current with 73% of the vote.
A total of 55 ballot boxes were reported during the Preliminary Count, comprised of 44 for regular polls, 7 for advance polls and 4 for mobile polls. 2 additional polls (1 for absentee votes, and 1 for hospital/remand votes) will be added to the Final Count on March 13, for a total of 57 ballot boxes.
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Feature Image Source: Mallorie Rast/Kindersley Social
