REGINA – NDP Leader Ryan Meili got the update he and his party were hoping for..After the ballots were counted Monday night, Meili trailed Saskatchewan Party candidate Ryland Hunter by 83 votes in the riding of Saskatoon Meewasin, with 1,656 ballots mail-in ballots left to go..But now 1,065 mail-in ballots have been counted, giving Meili has a 209 vote lead with 3380 votes..Since two-thirds of mail-in ballots counted went NDP, it seems unlikely the result will change as the final 509 votes are tallied..The seat count sits at 49 for the Saskatchewan Party and 12 for the NDP..The comeback was not entirely unexpected, since coronavirus fears run deeper in left-leaning voters. A poll by Angus Reid released September 10 showed that federally, only 26 per cent of NDP voters and 29 per cent of Liberal voters were “completely comfortable” voting in person compared to 66 per cent of Conservative voters..Meili’s victory is a relief for the NDP, which will now avoid a three-peat of futility where leaders lost their seats to Saskatchewan Party candidates in general elections..In 2011, Dwayne Lingenfelter lost the riding of Regina Douglas Park to the Saskatchewan Party’s Russ Marchuk, a former Regina public school board chair, 4,411 votes to 3,507. Lingenfelter had won the seat of Shaunavon in 1978 and 1982 and returned to the legislature in 1988 in a by-election of Regina Elphinstone, which he was re-elected to in 1991, 1995, and 1999 before leaving politics to become Vice President of Nexen. In 2009, he won the NDP leadership and a by-election in Regina Douglas Park.. POLL: Many Albertans say they will ignore Christmas COVID lockdown .In 2016, Cam Broten lost the riding of Saskatoon Westview to David Buckingham, 3,892 votes to 3,675, despite being elected there in two previous general elections..On March 2, 2017, Meili won the riding of Saskatoon Meewasin in a by-election over Brent Penner, 2,666 votes to 1,962. On March 3, 2018, Meili defeated Regina MLA Trent Wotherspoon with 55 per cent of the vote to take the party leadership..The NDP’s 16-year-reign ended in 2007 under Lorne Calvert as the Saskatchewan Party under Brad Wall took 38 of 58 seats. The NDP took 9 of 58 seats in 2011 and 10 of 61 in 2016..Lee Harding is the Saskatchewan correspondent for the Western Standard
