Here are the upsets of Saskatchewan's 2024 election

Saskatchewan's 2024 provincial election was not kind to the Sask Party candidates defending seats in Regina and Saskatoon, with the vast majority being voted out at the time of the call late Monday night.

Long-time Saskatchewan Party MLA and Minister Christine Tell was not re-elected in the Regina Wascana Plains constituency Monday night, losing to the NDP’s Brent Blakely.

Tell had held the seat since 2007, being re-elected in 2011, 2016, and 2020.

At the time of dissolution, Tell was the minister of environment.

She also served as the minister of corrections, policing and public safety, government services, minister responsible for Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority, tourism, parks culture and sport, and minister responsible for the Provincial Capital Commission.

Tell also holds a psychiatric nursing diploma from Wascana Institute and served with both the Saskatoon and Regina Police Service.

She became the first woman in Canada that lead a major police association after being elected to the Regina Police Association.

Blakely enters the legislature as a politcal newcomer. His previous experience includes a 35 year career as an educator.

Sask. Party candidate Gene Makowsky lost his seat in Regina University after representing the Saskatchewan Party since 2011.

Makowsky had most recently served as minister of social services but had held the portfolios of parks, culture and sport, Sask. Liquor and Gaming Authority, tourism and advanced education during his 13 years in office.

The former Saskatchewan Roughrider lineman fell to the NDP’s candidate, Sally Housser.

Housser touts an extensive background with the New Democrats in several capacities, working as the chief of staff for Saskatchewan’s official opposition and as a press secretary for former Alberta NDP Leader and Premier Rachel Notley and former federal NDP Leader Jack Layton.

She has also worked in communications in Manitoba and as a senior manager of public affairs for the Canadian Strategy Group.

Regina University was essentially a new constituency — made up of the defunct Regina Gardiner Park combined with portions of the previous iterations of Regina University, Regina Wascana Plains and Regina Douglas Park.

Gene Makowsky loss

Minister of Parks, Culture and Sport and Status of Women Laura Ross was ousted from her seat in Regina Rochdale by a margin of just over 600 votes.

Ross had held a seat in Regina for the Sask Party since 2007. Going into the election, Regina Rochdale was redistributed, tightening the margin between the Sask Party and NDP in the constituency.

NDP candidate Joan Pratchler will represent Regina Rochdale in the 30th legislature. She enters politics with a storied background that includes education and healthcare.

Laura Ross loss

Paul Merriman, the minister of corrections, policing and public safety was unseated by a margin of less than 300 votes.

Before his most recent portfolio, Merriman served as minister of health, social services, government house leader, and government whip. His tenure in health coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic, where he received criticism for downplaying the need for public health measures during times of rising case numbers.

Hugh Gordon, a small business owner and retired member of the RCMP, will take Merriman’s seat in the 30th legislature as an NDP MLA.

Gordon spent 24 years with the service, working as a front-line officer and a financial crime investigator in Saskatchewan. He currently owns and operates Gordon Special Investigations and also helps manage his wife’s small business.

Gordon has called Saskatoon home since 2009. He lists education funding, fixing the public healthcare system and affordability as his main concerns.

Paul Merriman loss

Minister of Justice and Attorney General Bronwyn Eyre failed to defend her seat – losing out against the NDP challenger, Darcy Warrington, by just over 700 votes.

During her two terms in government, Eyre held a plethora of portfolios before being assigned to the Ministry of Justice.

Warrington comes from an education background – working in the Saskatoon Public School Division for the past 14 years.

Saskatoon Stonebridge was heavily impacted by redistribution – its 2020 margin of 4,501 votes cut down to 1,301. Much of its rural area was cut out and distributed to the constituencies of Batoche, Dakota-Arm River and Humboldt-Watrous.

Bronwyn Eyre loss

The Sask Party’s Lisa Lambert was ousted from Saskatoon Churchill-Wildwood after serving two terms.

Beaten by a margin of more than 1,100 votes, the gap remains larger than most wins the NDP recorded over the course of the night.

Lambert occupied multiple roles while in government, including serving on four committees and working as the legislative secretary for the minister of parks, culture and sport as well as deputy whip.

Lambert was first elected in 2016 and was re-elected in 2020.

The NDP MLA who will take her place, Keith Jorgenson, is a former teacher, business owner and community activist.

Jorgenson worked for years with at-risk youth in Saskatoon, and helped integrate them back into a school setting through Community Learners High School. The independent school founded by Jorgenson had its funding cut from the Ministry of Education in 2016 – citing a low graduation rate.

Jorgenson sold the building as a safe injection site for AIDS Saskatoon. He then moved down the street and now owns Nestor’s Bakery with his wife.

Lisa Lambert loss