User:Mr Serjeant Buzfuz/Electoral history of Grant Devine

This article is the Electoral history of Grant Devine, the eleventh Premier of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. He served from 1982 to 1991, and led the Progressive Conservative Party of Saskatchewan (PCs) in three general elections, in 1982, 1986, and 1991. He was the second Conservative premier of the Province, the first Conservative to win a majority government, and the first Conservative to win two general elections.

Devine defeated Premier Allan Blakeney, leader of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party (NDP), in the 1982 election, and became Premier. In the 1986 election, he again defeated Blakeney, who then retired from politics. Devine was defeated in his third general election (1991) by the new leader of the NDP, Roy Romanow. He resigned as premier and later as leader of the PC party.

Summary

Devine was the fith-longest serving Premier of the fifteen Premiers of Saskatchewan. He was in office from May 8, 1982 to November 1, 1991, for a total of 9 years, 177 days.

Devine led the Progressive Conservative Party of Saskatchewan (PCs) in three provincial general elections: 1982, 1986, and 1991. He won his first election as leader with a majority government in 1982, defeating Premier Allan Blakeney, who resigned as Premier and became Leader of the Opposition. The victory by Devine and the PCs, with a large majority in the Legislature, was said to be the greatest election upset in the province's history.

As Premier, Devine also won a majority government in the next election in 1986, again defeating Blakeney, who then retired from politics. In the 1991 general election, Devine was defeated by Roy Romanow, the new leader of the NDP, but was re-elected in his own seat. Devine resigned as Premier and became the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly for a year, before retiring from provincial politics.

Devine stood for election to the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan on five occasions (1978, 1980 (by-election), 1982, 1986 and 1991), in two different ridings (Saskatoon Nutana and Estevan). He was defeated in his first two attempts, but then was elected in the next three general elections (1982, 1986 and 1991).

Some years after he retired from provincial politics, Devine sought the nomination for the federal Conservative Party in the general election of 2004, in the federal riding of Souris—Moose Mountain, which included his former provincial constituency of Estevan. Although he had local support, the Conservative Party refused to allow him to contest the nomination. Instead, Devine ran as an independent, coming in second in a field of six candidates.

Devine had been elected to the leadership of the Saskatchewan PC Party in the convention of ##, winning on the ## ballot. Following his resignation as leader in 1992, he was succeeded as party leader by Rick Swenson.

Saskatchewan general elections, 1982 to 1991

Devine led the PCs in three general elections: 1982, 1986, and 1991. He won his first two elections with majority governments, but lost the last election and eventually retired from provincial politics.

1982 General election

For more detailed tables of election results, see Saskatchewan general election, 1982.

For information about the 20th Legislature, 1982 to 1986, see 20th Saskatchewan Legislature.

For information about political events during the 20th Legislature, see Grant Devine § Premier of Saskatchewan.

In the 1982 election, Devine led the PCs to a major victory, defeating Premier Allan Blakeney and the NDP. The PCs won fifty-five of the seats in the sixty-four seat Legislative Assembly, with the NDP reduced from majority government to a nine member Opposition. It was one of the strongest victories in Saskatchewan history.

Saskatchewan General Election: April 26, 1982

Party		Leaders	Seats Won	Popular Vote	Popular Vote Percentage
	Progressive Conservative	Grant Devine1	55	289,311	54.1%
	New Democratic Party	Allan Blakeney2	9	201,390	37.6%
	Liberal	Ralph Goodale	0	24,134	4.5%
	Western Canada Concept	–	0	17,487	3.3%
	Aboriginal People's Party	–	0	1,156	0.2%
	Independent	–	0	1,607	0.3%
Total			64	535,085	100.0%
Source: Elections Saskatchewan - Elections Results - 1982

¹ Leader of the Opposition when election was called; Premier after election.
² Premier when election was called; Leader of the Opposition after the election.

1986 General election

For more detailed tables of election results, see Saskatchewan general election, 1986.

For information about the 21st Legislature, 1986 to 1991, see 21st Saskatchewan Legislature.

For information about political events during the 21st Legislature, see Grant Devine § Premier of Saskatchewan.

Premier Devine again led the Progressive Conservatives in the 1986 election, again facing Blakeney as leader of the NDP. Devine and the PCs won a majority of the seats in the Legislative Assembly, although the NDP won a plurality of votes overall and substantially increased their number of seats.

Saskatchewan General Election: October 20, 1986

Party		Leaders	Seats Won	Popular Vote	Popular Vote Percentage
	Progressive Conservative	Grant Devine1	38	244,382	44.6%
	New Democratic Party	Allan Blakeney2	25	247,683	45.2%
	Liberal	Ralph Goodale	1	54,739	10.0%
	Western Canada Concept	–	0	458	0.1%
	Alliance	–	0	237	0.0%3
	Communist	–	0	73	0.0%3
	Independent	–	0	358	0.0%3
Total			64	547,930	99.9%4
Source: Elections Saskatchewan - Elections Results - 1986

¹ Premier when election was called; Premier after election.
² Leader of the Opposition when election was called; Leader of the Opposition after the election.
³ Rounds to zero.
⁴ Rounding error.

1991 General election

For more detailed tables of election results, see Saskatchewan general election, 1991.

For information about the 22nd Legislature, 1991 to 1995, see 22nd Saskatchewan Legislature.

For information about political events during the 22nd Legislature, see Grant Devine § 1991 Defeat and Opposition leader.

Premier Devine again led the Progressive Conservatives in the 1991 election, this time facing the new leader of the NDP, Roy Romanow. Devine and the PCs were badly defeated, winning only ten seats in the sixty-six seat Legislative Assembly. Devine resigned as Premier and became Leader of the Opposition.

Saskatchewan General Election: October 21, 1991

Party		Leaders	Seats Won	Popular Vote	Popular Vote Percentage
	New Democratic Party	Roy Romanow1	55	275,780	51.0%
	Progressive Conservative	Grant Devine2	10	137,994	25.5%
	Liberal	Lynda Haverstock	1	125,814	23.3%
	Independent	–	0	592	0.1%
	Independence/Western Canada Concept	–	0	46	0.0%3
Total			66	540,226	99.9%4
Source: Elections Saskatchewan - Elections Results - 1991

¹ Leader of the Opposition when election was called; Premier after election.
² Premier when election was called; Leader of the Opposition after the election.
³ Rounds to zero.
⁴ Rounding error.

Saskatchewan constituency elections, 1978 to 1991

Devine stood for election to the Legislative Assembly in four general elections and one by-election, in two different ridings: Saskatoon Nutana and Estevan. He was defeated in his first two attempts, in 1978 and 1980, but elected in the next three elections, in 1982, 1986, and 1991.

1978 General election: Saskatoon Nutana

General Election, October 18, 1978: Saskatoon Nutana

Party		Candidate	Popular Vote	%
	New Democratic Party	X Wesley Albert Robbins	4,739	57.2%
	Progressive Conservative	Grant Devine	2,466	29.8%
	Liberal	John A. Shanks	1,080	13.0%
Total			8,285	100.0%
Source: Saskatchewan Archives - Election Results by Electoral Division - Saskatoon Nutana

Elected.
X Incumbent.

1980 By-election: Estevan

Saskatchewan By-election, November 26, 1980: Estevan

Party		Candidate	Popular Vote	%
	New Democratic Party	John Otho Chapman	2,918	36.8%
	Progressive Conservative	Grant Devine	2,858	36.0%
	Liberal	Ralph Goodale	2,156	27.2%
Total			7,932	100.0%
Source: Saskatchewan Archives - Election Results by Electoral Division - Estevan

Elected.

1982 General election: Estevan

General Election, April 26, 1982: Estevan

Party		Candidate	Popular Vote	%
	Progressive Conservative	Grant Devine	5,487	59.2%
	New Democratic Party	X John Otho Chapman	2,947	31.8%
	Liberal	Heather MacDonald-Doyle	649	7.0%
	Western Canada Concept	Vernon McClement	184	2.0%
Total			9,267	100.0%
Source: Saskatchewan Archives - Election Results by Electoral Division - Estevan

Elected.
X Incumbent.

1986 General election: Estevan

General Election, October 20, 1986: Estevan

Party		Candidate	Popular Vote	%
	Progressive Conservative	X Grant Devine	6,037	63.4%
	New Democratic Party	Dan Tangjerd	2,766	29.1%
	Liberal	Leonard Ludwig	655	6.9%
	Western Canada Concept	Randy Shaver	60	0.6%
Total			9,518	100.0%
Source: Saskatchewan Archives - Election Results by Electoral Division - Estevan

Elected.
X Incumbent.

1991 General election: Estevan

General Election, October 21, 1991: Estevan

Party		Candidate	Popular Vote	%
	Progressive Conservative	X Grant Devine	4,079	63.4%
	New Democratic Party	Leonard Haukeness	3,404	29.1%
	Liberal	Bob Jones	1,889	6.9%
Total			9,518	100.0%
Source: Saskatchewan Archives - Election Results by Electoral Division - Estevan

Elected.
X Incumbent.

Federal constituency election, 2004

Devine stood for election to the House of Common once, in the federal riding which included his old provincial riding of Estevan. Denied the nomination by the Conservative Party of Canada, he ran as an independent, coming in second.

Federal Election, 2004: Souris—Moose Mountain, Saskatchewan

Party		Candidate	Popular Vote	%
	Conservative	Ed Komarnicki	11,306	36.9%
	Independent	Grant Devine	8,399	27.4%
	Liberal	Lonny McKague	6,001	19.6%
	New Democratic	Robert Stringer	4,202	13.7%
	Green	Sigfredo Gonzalez	537	1.8%
	Christian Heritage	Robert Jacobson	191	0.6%
Total			30,636	100.0%
Source: Library of Parliament - Souris—Moose Mountain

Elected.

Progressive Conservative leadership election, 1979

The PC Party held a leadership convention in 1979 to replace outgoing leader Dick Collver. Devine won the leadership on the first ballot.

Progressive Conservative Leadership Convention, November 9, 1979
Voting results by ballot

Candidate	First Ballot
	Votes cast	%
Grant Devine	418	60.3%
Graham Taylor	201	29.0%
Paul Emile Rousseau	74	10.7%
Total	693	100.0%

External links

• Elections Saskatchewan - Election Results
• Saskatchewan Archives: Saskatchewan Executive and Legislative Directory