Just a few months ago, David Hanson didn’ t plan on running in a provincial election - today, the Wildrose candidate and political newcomer became the MLA for Lac La Biche - St. Paul -Two Hills.
Just a few months ago, David Hanson didn’ t plan on running in a provincial election - today, the Wildrose candidate and political newcomer became the MLA for Lac La Biche - St. Paul -Two Hills.
In an election that saw sweeping changes in leadership across the province, resulting in a majority government for the NDP, voters in the constituency resisted the orange surge, choosing instead to stick with the Wildrose party, with NDP candidate Catherine Harder taking second spot by a narrow margin.
“I’ m feeling pretty pumped right now,” said Hanson shortly after finding out he would hold on to win the race. “It’ s been a long hard slug for 28 days. A lot of work went into it. A lot of support from the volunteers and it was all worthwhile.”
His quick rise into politics wasn’ t the only thing Hanson hadn’ t predicted just a short time ago: like many people in the province Hanson didn’ t expect the NDP to make up a majority government in the province.
“That came as quite a bit of a surprise to everyone I think,” he said. “I knew that everybody was upset with the PC party, but I didn’ t realize they were that upset.”
Even though he said he would have like some of that change to sweep more in the direction of his own party, Hanson said he would work with the NDP government to ensure the constituents in Lac La Biche - St. Paul - Two Hills get what they need. He said multiple times over the course of his campaign that the main issues voters had in this constituency didn’ t differ much from place to place while he was on the campaign trail; healthcare, education, and infrastructure.
“We’ ll just have to work with the new majority government - we’ re going to have to work together to make it a better province,” he said. “It’ s incredible . I would have like to see it shift a little more to Wildrose, but I think any change is due.”
Whether his party is in power or not, Hanson said he is excited to get to work, and already has an idea of what he wants to get working on first when he takes his seat in the Alberta Legislature.
“Getting that [dialysis] bus out of the parking lot at the Lac La Biche Hospital,” he said.
Though the orange surge didn’ t quite take hold in Lac La Biche - St. Paul - Two Hills, the NDP candidate Catherine Harder kept things close; she finished with about 34 per cent of the vote, while Hanson won with about 38.5 per cent. Even though regional voters didn’ t choose NDP like much of the rest of the province, they did follow the trend of rejecting Progressive Conservative leadership, with PC candidate Darrell Younghans winning only about 24.5 per cent of the vote. Green Party candidate Brian Deheer ended up with just less than three per cent of the vote.
Younghans said he was disappointed to finish in third place, but he wishes Hanson the best in the legislature.
"I don't know Dave other than the few times we met on the trail," Younghans said. "We got along just fine those times. I think Dave's job is going to be awful tough with a NDP government."
He said he was disappointed to finish behind Harder, a candidate who didn't have deep roots in the constituency.
"You kind of have to really wonder what it is that would make the voters shift to someone that doesn't really know of the constituency and isn't here in the constituency tonight. If it was a protest vote, whatever it was, it was disappointing," Younghans said.
Now that the campaign is over, Younghans won't have a lot of time to rest - he's going to go right back to farming.
"I have a job to get to tomorrow that I have been away from for quite awhile," he said. "I have told everyone during the campaign that I would either be seeding a crop on Wednesday or preparing to go to Edmonton, and it looks like I am going to put the crop in."
