REGINA - The governing Saskatchewan Party are the first political party to have a full slate in place for the 2024 provincial election.
All 61 candidates are now in place for the party following the contested nomination meeting in Moosomin-Montmartre on Tuesday night. That nomination was won by Kevin Weedmark, who is the editor, publisher and proprietor of the Moosomin World-Spectator newspaper.
"Thank you to the members in Moosomin-Montmartre for nominating me as your Saskatchewan Party candidate,” Weedmark said in a statement following the nomination. “I look forward to connecting with as many voters as possible across the constituency before and during this upcoming election.”
The Moosomin seat has been held by the Sask Party's Steven Bonk. Bonk was nominated to run again, but the nomination became open when he decided to leave provincial politics to run federally in Souris-Moose Mountain for the Conservatives.
Earlier this week, former Saskatchewan Progressive Conservative leader Ken Grey was also nominated to run in Regina Douglas Park for the Saskatchewan Party. He will face NDP incumbent Nicole Sarauer.
With the Sask Party now at a full slate, attention now turns to the other parties and whether they will also have full slates. The New Democrats still have seven ridings remaining to find candidates, though they expect to have a full slate as well.
The NDP's latest nominated candidate is Mark Thunderchild who will run in Rosthern-Shellbrook against Premier Scott Moe. The NDP also has a nomination meeting scheduled for Cut Knife-Turtleford on Sept. 17.
Other parties, including the Green Party, the Saskatchewan United Party, the Progressive Conservatives, the Buffalo Party and the Progress Party, have a much longer way to go to fill all of their candidate spots in time for the election. So far, the Green Party has 27 candidates listed on their website.
The Sask United Party currently has 16 candidates in place. The most recent nominees for the Sask United Party have been Denneil Carpenter in Prince Albert Carlton and William Hughes in Saskatoon Willowgrove.
In the case of the PCs and the Buffalo Party, speculation has heated up in recent days that the two parties could potentially form some sort of alliance during the upcoming election. There have been reports of talks between both right-leaning parties about cooperating but no deal has been announced as of yet.
The provincial election is expected to take place Oct. 28.
