Voters in Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville gave Conservative Leader Ed Stelmach another comfortable victory in his home riding. The PC leader took almost 78 per cent of the votes cast.
Stelmach will represent the rural east-central area for a fifth term, defeating Liberal candidate Earl Woods, Clayton Marsden of the NDP who each took nine per cent, and Ryan Scheie of the Alberta Greens who took about four per cent.
Conservative Leader Ed Stelmach voted Monday at a polling station in Andrew, Alta.
(CBC)
Stelmach, who still lives on the family farm in Andrew, was first elected in the old riding of Vegreville-Viking in 1993 before electoral boundaries were redrawn to create Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville.
Stelmach served in former Progressive Conservative premier Ralph Klein's cabinet, overseeing intergovernmental affairs, agriculture and infrastructure for a decade, before jumping into the PC leadership race in 2006.
Steady Eddie, as he's sometimes called, surprised many with a come-from-behind victory and was sworn in as premier in December 2006, which he called "one of the most humbling days" of his life.
Born and raised in Lamont, northeast of Edmonton, Stelmach was raised on a homestead established by his Ukrainian immigrant grandparents in 1898.
In 1973, while he was studying at the University of Alberta, his older brother died suddenly. He and his new wife, Marie, decided to abandon his dreams of a law career and return to take over the family farm.
Before becoming an MLA, he served variously as a county reeve, school trustee and health unit board chairman.
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