Election 2015: Regina's 3 hot ridings
With new boundaries in play for 2015, three Regina ridings will be keenly watched when election results start to come in.
Voting in the federal election starts at 7:30 a.m. CST Monday and polls close at 7:30 p.m.
In 2011 the Conservatives won 13 seats in Saskatchewan, the Liberals won one (Regina-Wascana), and the NDP was completely shut out. In that election, Regina had four hybrid-ridings that were part urban and part rural.
For 2015, Regina has three ridings and one of them, Regina-Lewvan, is completely urban.
Here's a primer on the Regina ridings for the 2015 federal election:
Regina-Lewvan
Candidates: Louis Browne (Liberal); Wojciech Dolata (Libertarian); Trent Fraser (Conservative); Tamela Friesen (Green): Erin Weir (NDP).
Factors to watch: This is a new all-urban riding. Observers have studied the results of the 2011 election and noted that the urban polls from the old riding showed a very close race between the Conservative and NDP candidates. (The city-only polls show the NDP received 45 per cent of the vote and the Conservative Party 44 per cent.) The Liberal and NDP candidates have previous experience in political campaigns. Browne is a former member of Regina city council. Weir ran for the Saskatchewan NDP leadership in 2012.
Fact: Regina-Lewvan has the most voters of all the Saskatchewan ridings.
Regina-Wascana
Candidates: April Bourgeois (NDP); Ralph Goodale (Liberal); Michael Kram (Conservative); Frances Simonson (Green).
Factors to watch: The riding used to stretch past the town of Montmartre, but the rural area was significantly reduced with the new boundaries. Incumbent Liberal Ralph Goodale has name-recognition due to his many years in politics at the provincial and federal level.
Fact: The riding has a diverse mix of people, including 30 senior homes and lots of student housing. In one corner of the riding you can buy a house for $80,000. In the east end of Regina houses sell for as high as $1 million.
Regina-Qu'Appelle
Candidates: Della Anaquod (Liberal); Greg Chatterson (Green); Nial Kuyek (NDP); Andrew Scheer (Conservative).
Factors to watch: Regina-Qu'Appelle is now the only rural-urban riding that includes portions of Regina and a notable number of rural voters, including a number of communities north and east of the city.
Fact: According to the Assembly of First Nations, there are more than 13,000 eligible voters from the different First Nations in Regina-Qu'Appelle.
