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Tuesday, 04 March 2008 |
Cardston-Taber-Warner is going back to the days when the constituency had representation by Broyce Jacobs in Edmonton, after the PC candidate beat Paul Hinman during a tough race to the finish line by a mere 39 votes.
By Jennifer Elves
Taber Times
Jacobs, a former Tory member of the legislature, received 4,367 votes, while Hinman of the Wildrose Alliance Party gathered 4,328. Since Hinman defeated Jacobs by 131 votes in 2004, and Monday night's count kept seeing both individuals at the top at different times, no one knew what to expect.
"I figured it was a two-man race. I didn't think the other two parties were in it. I thought it would be a race between the Alliance and the PC," said Jacobs. "I thought it was going to be close but I didn't know it was going to be that close."
Seeing as how Hinman ran a "hard-fought campaign," Jacobs said he feels fortunate to have come out on top.
He had anticipated doing slightly better in Raymond and Cardston than he did for receiving votes in those areas.
He did not anticipate Stelmach's win to be by such a significant amount, as the PC party swept 72 of the 83 seats. Jacobs noted the Progressive Conservatives deserve credit for lower taxes and Alberta being debt free.
"I'm thrilled. Congratulations to the premier. I'm excited to be able to be on his team and continue to be a good government to Alberta as well as Cardston-Taber-Warner."
Of the 19,486 eligible voters In the Cardston-Taber-Warner constituency, 9,503 people went to the polls Monday, which is 673 more voters than what the constituency saw for voter turnout in the 2004 provincial election.
As Jacobs looks ahead, he said some of his main priorities will be infrastructure, schools, playgrounds, streets, roads, water and sewer. Some work, he stressed, he did prior to his win by getting five of the province's ministers to visit villages and towns in the area in the last six months to learn about some of the issues.
When Hinman defeated Jacobs in 2004, he won by 131 votes. After the votes were counted Monday, a disappointed Hinman said a true conservative opposition, as in a Wild Rose Alliance opposition, was what the province needed most.
"They (the Tories) spend more and they get less. They just don't manage their money well. They continue to create a monopoly, which isn't in the best interest of the people," he said.
Going into election day, he knew he was in for a tough race, as he had been hearing from, people mostly in Cardston and quite a bit in Taber, they believed this area would only get money if a Tory candidate was elected as MLA.
"If they can get all this money for our communities it will be wonderful but I just don't think they can do it. I believe we will end up with less, not more," he said. "I just hope they can fulfill their promise. I'm just a skeptic and I don't believe they will."
He added he heard people saying Jacobs will become agricultural minister, which he also does not believe will happen.
Hinman stressed in his opinion, Premier Ed Stelmach should have waited until a budget was in place before calling an election.
"They play politics way better than they govern," he said, and added campaigning should not be based on platitudes and promises.
With only 439 votes, Liberal candidate Ron Hancock wanted to improve on the support he received in 2001 when he last ran and garnered 1,755 votes. But he knew no matter how well he did this time, it probably still would not be good enough to win, but he hoped voters would realize the status quo is no longer acceptable.
"I just felt it's time for a change," Hancock said. "Albertans need to bite the bullet and go for it." |
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