Alberta ag minister, ag critic hang onto seats in election

Alberta’s incumbent agriculture minister and official opposition ag critic both appear set to return to the legislature as Premier Danielle Smith’s United Conservatives (UCP) are expected to form a majority government.

At about 1 a.m. Alberta time on Tuesday, Smith’s UCP was elected or leading in 49 of 87 constituencies; all remaining 38 went to Rachel Notley’s New Democrats (NDP). The two parties had held 60 and 23 seats respectively before Monday’s election.

Nate Horner, the UCP’s most recent minister for agriculture and irrigation, easily held his riding of Drumheller-Stettler on Monday night, drawing 15,274 votes with all polls reporting. His NDP challenger Juliet Franklin followed with 2,684 votes.

READ MORE: Pre-election reports analyze Alberta’s ag issues

Horner, a rancher from a well known political family in Alberta, has been the MLA for Drumheller-Stettler since 2019 and has handled the ag file since November 2021.

He was named to the ag post following the resignation of Devin Dreeshen, who later returned to cabinet as transportation minister and also easily held his own riding of Innisfail-Sylvan Lake on Monday night against NDP challenger Jason Heistad by a spread of over 10,000 votes with all polls reporting.

Heather Sweet, the NDP’s sitting agriculture critic, also held her riding of Edmonton-Manning with 9,587 votes and all polls reporting, ahead of UCP challenger Albert Mazzocca with 6,230 votes.

Sweet, an Edmonton social worker before entering politics in 2015, has been the NDP’s critic for agriculture since February 2021 and for rural economic development since October 2021, and the party’s deputy house leader since February this year. — Glacier FarmMedia Network