Chelsae Petrovic celebrates her election with campaign fund-raising chairman Conrad Van Hierden.
The lounge at Douro’s Restaurant in Claresholm erupted about 10:30 p.m. Monday when word came that Chelsae Petrovic was elected as part of a United Conservative Party majority government.
Supporters chanted “Chelsae! Chelsae! Chelsae!” as the newly-elected first-time MLA hugged family and friends.
“I am extremely humbled that people have chosen me to represent them,” Petrovic said in an interview. “I feel the pressure, I feel the weight and I’m very excited to get to work.”
Elections Alberta reported Tuesday that Petrovic received 16,477 votes to outdistance runner-up New Democrat Kevin Van Tighem, who got 6,488.
Liberal Dylin Hauser was third with 1,994 votes, followed by the Alberta Party’s Kevin Todd with 977, Corrie Toone of the Independence Party with 352 and independent Eric Abildgaard with 129.
In 2019, UCP candidate Roger Reid received 17,644 votes and New Democrat candidate Cam Gardner received 5,125.
Provincially, Albertans gave Danielle Smith a majority government by electing 49 MLAs, down from 63 in 2019.
The New Democrats will form the Official Opposition with 38 MLAs, up from 24 four years ago.
A total of 1,763,441 valid votes were cast, representing just over 62 per cent of eligible voters.
Petrovic, a licenses practical nurse, compared being MLA to her previous role as mayor of Claresholm.
“Running for the mayor of Claresholm, it was to represent the people,” Petrovic said. “Once again, jumping into the MLA it’s to represent the people, just on a larger scale . . . we’re just going to do our best to fight for the needs and wants of Livingstone-Macleod.”
Petrovic said Monday’s win was for the people who supported her in the campaign, and for all constituents of Livingstone-Macleod.
“That’s what it’s going to be,” Petrovic said in her address to supporters. “I’m extremely excited for the next four years to work for all of you.”
Petrovic said health care was a concern for residents in her riding and will be a priority for the government.
“I think there’s still a lot of work that needs to be done,” Petrovic said. “I’m excited to start finding some unique solutions.”
Another priority for the new MLA is staying in touch with people across Livingstone-Macleod.
“You can’t represent the riding without knowing the people,” Petrovic said. “That will be a big focus is accessibility to myself.”
