It was a fitting end to a marathon Progressive Conservative nomination campaign in Lac La Biche-St. Paul-Two Hills, as the vote counting process lasted three rounds, stretching through the night and into the next morning. Over 1,800 votes were cast.
It was a fitting end to a marathon Progressive Conservative nomination campaign in Lac La Biche-St. Paul-Two Hills, as the vote counting process lasted three rounds, stretching through the night and into the next morning. Over 1,800 votes were cast.
After the ballots were tallied and the dust had settled, Darrell Younghans was named the PC candidate for the constituency. The runners-up, though disappointed with the results, congratulated Younghans on his victory before reflecting on their own campaigns.
After finding out he had come up short in the nomination, Glenn Andersen, nominee and mayor of St. Paul, said preparing for a tough loss is all part of the process.
“Anytime you enter a nomination or an election process, you have to anticipate the ending. It could be this or it could be a victory, so I’ m well accustomed to that. Every candidate has to expect something like that, so I’ m okay with that,” he said.
Andersen was in a unique position during the nomination process, as he had to campaign for the votes of constituents in Lac La Biche-St. Paul-Two Hills while keeping up with his mayoral duties at home.
“During my campaign I still had to do the mayoral duties of the Town of St. Paul, so that took precedent, of course. I didn’ t get as much campaigning in as I could have, and of course, that dictates in the results as well,” he said.
Andersen gave Younghans credit for a campaign well-fought, but said the newly nominated candidate has plenty of work to do when it comes to garnering trust for the PCs among the residents in the constituency. He cited the controversial firing of the PC nomination committee during the early stages of the nomination process, and the recent comments by Premier Jim Prentice, who said Albertans should “look in the mirror” when trying to pinpoint responsibility for the current economic downturn in the province.
“Darrell and his team worked really hard, but I do think that, due to some things that happened during the nomination process, they have some work cut out to get the... community to believe in the PCs,” said Andersen.
Even though he didn’ t come out on top, Andersen said he’ s looking forward to building a political relationship with Younghans in the future.
“I wish him the best, and want to continue working with him,” he said. “According to the membership, he is the right man for the job.”
Jeff Dechaine, a former councillor for Lakeland County, says he's unhappy to have lost - but he's ready to throw his support behind Younghans.
"I'm obviously disappointed, but at the end of the day the teams all did a really good time of getting people out to the vote," said Dechaine. "We've got a great candidate with Darrell, and we're unified in support behind him to try and win this riding back...I'll go back to work, regroup, get a little bit of rest, and then go out and help Darrell win the election."
Fourth nominee Brian Storseth could not be reached for comment shortly after the announcement.
Storseth, the Member of Parliament for Westlock-St. Paul, entered the local PC race late, submitting his name after the nominating committee was thrown out and replaced.
Chief returning officer Riley Georgsen, a longtime PC volunteer who came to the constituency from Calgary after the local nominating committee was thrown out, said he was very happy about the high turnout.
"It was good," Georgsen said. "I wanted to help out to make sure we had a fair nomination for everyone involved, and I think we accomplished that."
While the polls closed at 7 p.m., results weren't made available until about 2 a.m. Georgsen said this happened because of how long it took to count the over 1,800 ballots.
"We were very thorough. There were a lot of votes cast, so it takes a long time to get through all of them effectively and efficiently."
