In the end, it was a runaway win for the incumbent in the Battlefords.
Herb Cox easily won a second term representing the Battlefords in the legislature as the Saskatchewan Party continued its domination of Saskatchewan politics in the 2016 provincial election.
With 53 out of 53 polls reporting, Cox had 4,248 votes, compared to 2,233 for Rob Feist, 434 for Dexter Gopher and 82 for Josh Hunt.
“The people of the Battlefords, obviously I thank them for the confidence they’re showing in me again,” said Cox.
“They’ve, I think, voted strongly in favour of the policies of the Saskatchewan Party government and the strength that we’re going to keep the economy going.”
Cox watched the returns at his 100th Street campaign office. He was joined by his wife Linda and members of his family, as well as by several volunteers who worked on the campaign.
Cox’s win was even more impressive than in 2011 as he doubled his margin of victory. He swept all but a couple of the polls in the Battlefords, a result that surprised and delighted supporters who gathered at his victory celebration.
“I was a little surprised by that, of course you never know until the votes start coming in,” said Cox.
“But we’ve had a fantastic team working. They’ve worked so hard for so long. And we’ve talked to so many people on doorsteps, on telephones and functions and the message was very clear from what they talked to us about, was they wanted us to see this economy stay strong so we can continue to grow this province.”
His win was part of the massive Saskatchewan Party victory across the province. The Saskatchewan Party won 51 seats to the NDP’s 10, with 63 per cent of the vote. Cox’s vote percentage in the Battlefords almost mirrored the rest of the province, with 60.7 per cent.
As for what the result means for the province and for Premier Brad Wall, Cox says it is back to the grindstone for everyone.
“I know the first thing the premier’s going to say is we get back to work,” said Cox.
“That’s the first message he’s going to give to everybody, and we’re going to continue doing the things that we’re doing. As you know we’ve created 68,000 jobs in our first eight years and we’re going to continue to do that because that’s the way we can afford to do the things we need to do – build hospitals, repair highways, repair infrastructure. As you know, we inherited a huge infrastructure deficit and we’re going to continue to chip away at that, and build the infrastructure that we need in this province.”
It is not yet known if Cox will return to cabinet as environment minister or shift to a new role, but he indicated his willingness to serve in any role the premier sees fit.
Cox said he expected decisions on when the legislature will be called back into session and when a budget will be presented will come in the next few days.
