There are cycles when it comes to elections.
There is the post election celebration for some, and dejection. After that the parties start slowly building towards the next election as the cycle starts to move towards the top, and that’s where we are in in Saskatchewan.
Think of it as a piston in an engine, going up and down.
The piston has moved all the way down for the last two years, and is now starting to make its way up to the combustion point, or election day, in this case October of 2024. That’s the next scheduled provincial election in Saskatchewan, and in case you didn’t notice, the political parties are building two years out.
This past weekend, the NDP held their first convention since Carla Beck was voted in as the first woman elected to lead the party last June.
Beck garnered 94 percent support in a leadership review.
“I’m so proud to receive this support and to keep building to win the next election,” said Beck in a statement released to the media. “We’re inviting everyone in this province – from life-long New Democrats to first-time supporters — to join us in building that bright future.”
The NDP have been getting stronger in urban centres, but support drops off the further out you get from the bright lights of the bigger cities. Getting the support of the rural voter will be no easy task for the New Democrats.
For the Sask Party government, awash in the largesse of windfall revenue from oil and natural resources, there will be a positive economic message to sell next year, and in 2024. The books will more than likely be balanced, and surplus revenue will be headed towards debt repayment and tax relief.
The provincial liberals have been trying to get some of the political spotlight, struggling to square the circle of federal liberal policies that don’t sit will with most in this province.
The other political parties too have been trying to get some notice, but its been a two horse race in this province for a long time. While the campaigning is still some time off, the heat has just been turned on, and water is just starting to get warm in the political kettle.