Premier Scott Moe and the Saskatchewan Party won a fifth straight majority government Monday, losing in big cities but retaining their iron grip on rural areas to secure victory.

Moe’s party was shut out by Carla Beck’s NDP in Regina and lost all but one seat in Saskatoon in the early returns.

But he found enough support everywhere else to be elected or lead with 34 seats in the 61-seat legislature, compared to 27 for the NDP.

The New Democrats effectively doubled their seat total from the 14 they had at dissolution, retaining seats and gaining more in Regina and Saskatoon. In doing so, they defeated Saskatoon ministers Christine Tell, Bronwyn Eyre and Paul Merriman as well as Regina’s Laura Ross and Gene Makowsky.

Beck retained his seat in Regina Lakeview.

The NDP also reclaimed the rural northern riding of Athabasca, which it won in 2020 only to lose to the Saskatchewan Party in a subsequent by-election.

But with 31 rural seats versus 30 urban seats, the NDP’s margin for error was very slim. He needed victories in both Moose Jaw seats and both Prince Albert seats – but he didn’t get it.

Moe, in his second election as leader of the Saskatchewan Party, retained his seat in Rosthern-Shellbrook.

Other Saskatchewan Party ministers re-elected: David Marit, Jim Reiter, Colleen Young, Lori Carr, Everett Hindley, Terry Jenson, Jeremy Cockrill, Tim McLeod and Jeremy Harrison.

Harrison was a controversial figure during election campaigns. Earlier this year, he apologized for carrying a gun into the Legislature about a decade ago while on his way hunting.

Moe’s Saskatchewan Party has been in power for 17 years, while Beck’s NDP sought to take back government for the first time since 2007.

This is the third consecutive campaign for Saskatchewan. The party lost seats, from 51 in 2016 to 48 in 2020. The party had 42 seats at dissolution due to by-election losses, retirements and two members facing criminal charges.

The vote caps a monthslong campaign focused on health care, affordability and crime.

Moe promised broad tax breaks and to continue withholding federal carbon tax payments to Ottawa.

Its platform would cost an additional $1.2 billion over four years. He said his tax cut plan would save a family of four $3,400 over four years. It also includes tax credits for those looking to expand their families or enroll their children in sports and the arts.

Moe promised deficits in the first two years, followed by a surplus in 2027.

Beck has pledged to spend more to improve health care and education, suspend the gas tax and eliminate the provincial sales tax on children’s clothing and some groceries.

She said her promises would cost an additional $3.5 billion over four years, with plans to cut what she called the Saskatchewan Party’s waste and balance the budget by the end of her term.

Moe also promised that his first order of business, if re-elected, would be to ban “biological boys” from using school locker rooms with “biological girls.”

He said he made the promise after learning of a complaint at a southeastern Saskatchewan school about two biological boys using a girls’ locker room.

It was later revealed that a parent of the two children subject to the complaint was an NDP candidate. Moe said he didn’t know that when he made the promise.

Beck said such a ban would make vulnerable children even more vulnerable. She also promised to repeal a Saskatchewan Party law that requires parental consent if children under 16 want to change their name or pronoun at school.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published October 28, 2024.

Jeremy Simes and Aaron Sousa, The Canadian Press