Incumbent Westlock–St. Paul MP Brian Storseth has been re-elected to the House of Commons with 78.4 per cent of the vote with 185 of 219 of polls reporting.
“It feels great as it always does,” Storseth said, adding it’s always nerve-wracking to put his name on the ballot.
Asked if he had any worries about not winning, he said it comes down to what people think of the job he has done in the last five years.
“You always have to have faith in the work that you’ve done,” he said. “If you’ve worked hard for the last five years, all you can do is push forward and try to make sure people know the hard work that you’re doing”
This is Storseth’s third term in office since first being elected in 2006. In the 2006 election, he garnered 68 per cent of the votes cast. When he was re-elected in 2008, he managed to increase his vote share to 73 per cent. If this year’s numbers stay steady, this will be his greatest percentage of the vote received.
However, he said that it doesn’t matter how many votes he gets.
“As long as I get one more vote than the guy I’m running against, I’m happy,” he said.
As of press time, Storseth had received 26,753 votes, which far outdistanced his nearest opponent, NDP candidate Lyndsey Henderson, who had only received 4,020 votes.
Currently in third place, with 2,057 votes is Liberal candidate Rob Fox. Rounding out the four candidates is Green Party candidate Lisa Grant with 1,306 votes.
“At the end of the day, it is simply an honour to represent this area and to represent the great people of this area,” he said. “I just want to thank them for participating in democracy once again and making their voice heard and coming out and voting.”
Now that he has been re-elected, Storseth said he plans to continue doing what he has done since he was first elected – keep in touch with his constituents.
“I will continue to stay engaged with the people of Westlock and listen to what they want us to be doing over the next four years,” he said. “That’s my job and I look very much forward to it.”
