DJ’s Lounge erupted in cheers Monday night as incumbent Marie Renaud was declared the winner of the St. Albert provincial election.
With some 16 of 19 polls reporting, Renaud had a commanding lead over opponent Angela Wood of the UCP, leading her 13,673 to 9,247. CTV News declared her the winner at about 10:15 p.m.
“I’m super excited and incredibly grateful to the people of St. Albert for voting for me,” Renaud said Monday night.
Renaud speculated that her team of dedicated volunteers and door-knocking efforts helped her connect with St. Albert voters.
“(Wood) clearly spent a lot of money on advertising,” Renaud said, but she and her team had been out door-knocking and talking with voters ever since the last election.
“We focused on people.”
Heath Ryerse, who worked on Renaud’s campaign, said he was not surprised by the results.
“Feedback at the doors door-knocking was fantastic,” he said, with nine out of 10 people speaking positively of Renaud.
“I’m super excited Marie will be representing St. Albert again.”
Renaud said voters at the doors told her that they wanted a government they could trust, and were concerned about education, affordability, and health care.
“Right now the UCP has repeatedly said (health care) is fixed. It’s not.”
As of Monday night, Renaud said she was still waiting on pins-and-needles for the overall results of the election, particularly the fate of Morinville-St. Albert NDP candidate Karen Shaw, who was also at DJ’s Lounge that night. Regardless of the outcome, Renaud said she would continue to focus on being the best representative she could for St. Albert.
