The United Conservative Party has taken Red Deer-South.
Jason Stephan was elected as the riding’s new MLA after receiving 58 per cent of votes in Tuesday’s election.
“When I met people throughout our community, there was a real strong desire for change,” said Stephan.
“Red Deer has been a prosperous place, a place of opportunity, a place to work and raise a family – it certainly has been that way for me. We really want to bring back the prosperity that Alberta has held for people.”
Stephan said over the next couple of months, the UCP will “restore Alberta as the most attractive and competitive place” in Canada to start and grow a business.
“From that, we’re going to enjoy the prosperity we’ve enjoyed in the past and the capacity, in a sustainable way, to provide important services we all want and need, such as health care and education.”
Stephan is a chartered accountant and lawyer, and he is the founder of CA Tax Law, the only tax law firm in central Alberta. He also co-founded and currently serves as the president of the Red Deer Taxpayers’ Association.
The NDP’s Barb Miller, who served as Red Deer-South’s MLA for one term, said she is proud to have represented the riding for four years.
“I’m disappointed in the results, but I congratulate Jason Stephan. He won the race and is now the MLA-elect for Red Deer-South,” said Miller.
Miller won in the 2015 provincial election, receiving 7,024 of 19,589 votes (35.9 per cent). She edged out Darcy Mykytyshyn of the Progressive Conservative party, who received 5,414 votes (27.6 per cent), and Norman Wiebe of the Wildrose Party, who received 4,812 votes (24.6 per cent).
“We’ve got infrastructure that was long overdue. We’ve got the college going to be a university. We’ve got the justice centre being built, we’ve got new schools – we’ve got a lot to be proud of,” she said.
Miller said she won’t rule out running for MLA in the next provincial election, but “it’s not at the top of my head right now.”
“Just because I’m not the MLA doesn’t mean I’ll stop continuing the fight for Red Deer,” said Miller.
The Alberta Party’s Ryan McDougall, The Green Party of Alberta’s Lori Curran and the Freedom Conservative Party’s Teah-Jay Cartwright were also defeated in the election.
sean.mcintosh@reddeeradvocate.com
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