It is a surprise to no one that the 2011 Saskatchewan provincial election is now underway.
Thanks to the province's set election date law, everyone knew Nov. 7, 2011 would be the date of the next provincial vote - four years after the previous vote in 2007 that ushered in Brad Wall as Saskatchewan premier with 38 of the province's 58 seats.
The Saskatchewan Party took 51 per cent of the vote in that election and made major inroads on the NDP in their traditional strongholds, the cities.
In the northwest region the. Sask Party swept all but one of the area's seats, winning the ridings of Cut Knife-Turtleford, Rosthern-Shellbrook, Biggar, Lloydminster and even Meadow Lake.
They were not, however, able to dislodge NDP health minister Len Taylor in the Battlefords in what proved to be one of the closer races in the 2007 election. In that vote Taylor got 3,332 votes, Herb Cox of the Saskatchewan Party received 3,020, Liberal candidate Ryan Bater received 1,016, Green Party candidate Reid Stewart received 180 and Gordon Elias of the Western Independence Party received 57.
As tight a race as it was, it was only the 10th closest vote in the whole province in 2007, as the province saw several tight races en route to a change of government. Still, it was a hard-won NDP victory and one of the few seats the party won outside Regina and Saskatoon.
While the election call took place on Monday, all the major political parties were already busy far in advance of the election to prepare to do battle. The Battlefords is considered to be once again one of the main battleground ridings in the province, with the riding being the top target for both the Saskatchewan Party and the Liberals. Meanwhile the NDP is focused on the riding as its top defence in their quest to hold onto or possibly build upon its seat total in the legislature.
Already, we have seen activity in the Battlefords as both premier Brad Wall and NDP opposition leader Dwain Lingenfelter made several visits to the riding. The Saskatchewan Party government has also poured a lot of provincial money into the Battlefords area, most notably for the Highway 4 twinning project in Battleford and $8 million to move into the detail design phase for Saskatchewan Hospital, among others.
One leader, Ryan Bater, has been visible in the riding just by virtue of the fact that he makes North Battleford his home on a full-time basis.
With the election date well known in advance, all the parties had time to put their candidates in place. As it turned out, the major players from the last election will be doing battle once again.
The Saskatchewan Party re-nominated Herb Cox at their nominating convention in the spring of 2010, while Len Taylor was re-nominated later that fall. As well, Bater has for months made known of his intentions to run again in the Battlefords.
Shortly before the election, the Greens nominated Owen Swiderski as their candidate, part of a full slate the party is fielding across the province.
With a close result in 2007 it is widely expected party leaders will be setting their sights on the Battlefords again in 2011 and make appearances in the riding beginning as soon as this week. Already, Liberal leader Bater can claim an early jump on the competition by hosting the Barnstorm, a musical campaign event Saturday, in the Battlefords.
The News-Optimist and Regional Optimist will kick off election coverage with profiles of the main contenders in the Battlefords as the campaign launches in earnest. Readers in the surrounding Northwest ridings including Cut Knife-Turtleford, Rosthern-Shellbrook and others can also expect to see coverage in the coming weeks.
