Jeremy Cockrill, pictured here, will serve as MLA of the Battlefords riding. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Martin Martinson

Provincial Election

Cockrill, Sask. Party win Battlefords riding

Oct 27, 2020 | 12:26 AM

Jeremy Cockrill of the Saskatchewan Party is the new MLA for the Battlefords riding.

Cockrill, who garnered more than 67 per cent of the preliminary vote count, and over 4,100 total votes, takes over the role for outgoing MLA Herb Cox, in a riding that continues a run of conservative representation since 2011.

Cockrill said he was happy to see all the hard work of the last number of months pay off, with a victory.

“I think when you put the work in and you’ve been doing that for weeks, it’s finally nice to see some numbers on the screen that reflect that work,” he said. “We’ve had a great group of volunteers involved, so I think it’s very rewarding for not just myself, but also for the team, being able to share that moment with them and [see] that we’ve kept this riding with the Saskatchewan Party.”

Cockrill said it truly was a team effort with a number of people from around the community involved in making the campaign a successful one.

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“It takes a whole group to come together and do this and it takes a whole village to get the job done,” he said. “We certainly had people step up, even in the midst of a pandemic. We had volunteers out all over the community the last number of weeks and it’s so nice to see people take time out of their own busy lives to help out.”

The election this year was thought to be a two-horse race between Cockrill and the NDP’s Amber Stewart, which is partially how it turned out.

Stewart, who received just under 28 per cent of the preliminary vote count, finished second in the race, taking over 1,700 total votes. She said despite the loss, the experience running remains a remarkably positive one.

“I just want to start off by saying congratulations to Jeremy,” she said. “I also just want to say thank you to the community, the volunteers [and] everyone who worked on this campaign with me. I feel very blessed and encouraged by the support I received.”

While Stewart didn’t officially announce her intention to run next election cycle, she also didn’t rule out the possibility either.

“All I can say right now is that we had an overwhelming amount of support from the community,” she said. “I will continue to be a community advocate and I would not be surprised to see me back in 2024.”

Also running were Harry Zamonsky of the Progressive Conservative Party who received 3.4 per cent of the preliminary vote and 212 votes total, and Joey Reynolds of the Green Party at 1.8 per cent (114 total votes).

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Martin.Martinson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: MartyMartyPxP1