When frontrunner Danielle Smith won the UCP leadership race with a majority of 53.77%, candidates Todd Loewen and Brian Jean graciously accepted defeat and Travis Toews dashed off without comment. After 84,592 United Conservative Party members cast their ballots and hundreds of UCP members gathered at the BMO Centre in Calgary to vote, Smith won on the sixth ballot. “They’ve chosen the leader that they want, and now we’re going to go into another election in a few months,” said Jean at a Thursday press scrum.“I’m excited to make sure that we’re unified and ready to go.” Jean said he will stay on as an MLA until his constituents tell him otherwise. He added he “serves at the pleasure of the premier, and if she chooses him for a cabinet position, that’s up to her.” While it was important for UCP leadership candidates to present different ideas, he said the party has to unify behind Smith’s agenda. He said he is proud the UCP has one of the largest memberships of a political party in Canada. Jean went on to say Smith can succeed by identifying the policies bringing people together. He predicted she will water down the Alberta Sovereignty Act, as conservative leadership campaigns shift to the centre upon succeeding. Smith won the UCP leadership contest on Thursday, winning with 53.77% on the sixth ballot.READ MORE: 'I'm back' — Smith wins UCP leadership race, set to become premier Toews came second with 46.33% of the vote.Loewen told the Western Standard he is looking forward to the change in leadership for the UCP party and a "fresh start" moving forward. Loewen had been kicked out of the UCP caucus after denouncing Premier Jason Kenney.The independent MLA for Central Peace-Notley announced his leadership campaign on June 7. "I think one of the big things that Albertans have been feeling is a lack of trust in government, a lack of trust in the political process, and the UCP party," said Loewen.Loewen was dropped from the race after the third ballot with 7.8% of the vote. He indicated he plans to run again in his riding and was quickly welcomed back into the UCP caucus by Smith during her victory speech. Toews, surrounded by supporters, officially kicked off his campaign June 4 at the Rotary House on the Calgary Stampede grounds.The MLA for Grande Prairie-Wapiti, was appointed as Alberta’s President of Treasury Board and Minister of Finance in April 2019."I am incredibly grateful to my campaign team and the hundreds of volunteers and supporters across the province who made this journey possible!," reads his campaign website. "We could not have run such a successful campaign without your support."Toews dashed out right after Smith's speech. His campaign team said he would have a comment next week.
