It came down to the last trickling numbers from the very last of the polls, and three hours after the last ballot was cast on election night, Wildrose candidate Shayne Saskiw seems to have dethroned three-term PC candidate Ray Danyluk. While all results are still unofficial, the very tight race appears to have brought a new era of Wildrose government to the Lac La Biche region. Saskiw won by almost 300 ballots over Danyluk, in a vote that drew 10,000 ballots, or 52 per cent voter turnout. With just one polling station remaining, Saskiw had 5,779 votes to Danlyluk's 5,394. Saskiw would not comment on his apparent victory when contacted by the POST. But at the same time, from his campaign headquarters in St. Paul, Danyluk was presenting a concession speech to a disappointed group of supporters. Numerous attempts to contact Saskiw following Danyluk's speech were also unsuccessful. Danyluk also could not be reached for comment after several attempts. Saskiw, a Two-Hills area lawyer, will be one of less than 20 Wildrose MLAs elected to sit in a Legislature dominated by the Conservatives. Provincially, more than 60 PC MLAs were voted into power, with 4 Liberal and 4 NDP. John Nowak from the Liberal party saw 614 votes, while Phil Johnson from the NDP party garnered 585. Watch tomorrow's POST for more Election Day news.
