There was no shock-and-awe moment for the 40 or more supporters milling around the Progressive Conservative campaign headquarters on Fourth Street in Estevan on Monday night.
When the early results from the Estevan Constituency rolled in and Paul Carroll, the banner bearer for the revived PC party, was running a distant second to Sask. Party candidate, another rookie, Lori Carr, there was a collective shrug of acceptance of the inevitable.
Carroll, and his team, including wife Shelley, were joined by four PC candidates from adjoining constituencies, namely Glenn Pohl (Weyburn-Big Muddy); Kurt Schmidt (Cannington); Sheila Olson (Indian Head-Milestone) and Desmond Bilsky (Regina-Pasqua).
When the majority of the votes had been counted and the dust had settled, Carroll said that, while the party’s 18 candidates all tasted defeat, they managed to gain some needed exposure so they had succeeded in that mission.
“We gained some traction, I learned some lessons, and I’m sure we all did, as to running a campaign. I didn’t make it to as many doorsteps as I wanted to, but part of that was because a lot of the people I did see, wanted to talk about the issues. Nobody chased me away,” Carroll said.
“This was a big step forward for us. The party gained validity and we were able to bring out some ideas, spoke about issues where the Sask. Party showed weakness, and I think that resonated with a lot of people, even if they didn’t vote for us,” he said with a chuckle.
In an election where a majority Sask. Party government was declared only minutes after the polls closed at 8 p.m., it was a contest to see who would finish second in Estevan with the race being between Carroll and parachute NDP candidate Tina Vuckovic, with Vuckovic edging Carroll 627 votes to 610 with only a few polls left to be counted.
Carroll could take some solace in the fact he had claimed the second most votes for his party, placing just behind PC Leader Rick Swenson who was making his stand in Last Mountain-Touchwood.
With the election taking on a tone of being a referendum on the leaders, Brad Wall of the Sask. Party was easily carrying the day over the hard-pressed NDP Leader Cam Broten, whose party was left with just 10 seats, an increase of just one in a Legislative Assembly that had its total seats increased from 58 to 61. The Sask. Party cleaned up the rest, leaving the PCs, Liberals and Green Party lurching in the background.
“I believe our party can build from this. I thought, even if I could finish second, it would signal a big step for PCs. We were close to doing that. I think we can now build our brand. We’re making it a viable alternative. We’ll continue to talk about protecting our industries and most definitely keep pushing for some transparency from this government. They have a lot of questions to answer, a lot of explaining to do now and they have a budget to deliver,” said Carroll.
“I don’t think we’ll have to start from scratch the next time,” said Schmidt, who joined Carroll for a post-election interview.
“Mr. Wall had the strong brand this time around. Just look at the numbers, but I believe the PCs can be a force in the next election. This wasn’t a person-to-person, candidate-to-candidate race, it was a leader versus leader campaign it seemed,” said Carroll.
As the polling clerks closed shop for the night, Carr was far out in front with nearly 5,400 votes which represented nearly 78 per cent of the ballots cast while Vuckovic and Carroll took their positions ahead of the Liberal phantom candidate in Estevan, Oscar Karkabatov, who claimed 116 votes, even when most of his supporters had never met him, which was also true for Green Party candidate Brendan Schick, who was also a phantom, who garnered 88 votes, slightly behind local Independent candidate Cameron Robock who had 90 votes. Robock had been cast aside as the NDP’s official candidate early on in the campaign, being one of four who were ousted for inappropriate social media comments.
“We can still bring up the questions and ideas,” said Carroll, referring to local issues, such as the possibility of losing out on twinning Highway 39 with all the recent attention and funds going to the scandal-ridden Regina bypass and Global Transportation Hub land acquisitions.
“I would definitely do it again, with better preparation and a little experience now, I think we could make a good impression. But right now, it’s Lori’s night and the Sask. Party reclaimed the seat. I am going over to her election night party to congratulate her and then come back here and spend some more time with my supporters,” Carroll said.
