Lauren Stone of the Progressive Conservative party was elected as MLA for the Midland riding during the Oct. 3 Manitoba election.
Stone ran away with the election with 6,240 votes and a 58 per cent of the voter turnout for Midland.
“I’m incredibly honoured to the voters in Midland for placing their trust in me as their MLA, and I’m excited to advocate for a positive vision for our region, and I’m eager to get to work,” said Lauren Stone. “The work starts today.”
Stone, who lives in La Salle with her husband, Matt, and two children, has worked in the agri-food and manufacturing sectors, advancing economic opportunities for industries in Manitoba for the past 15 years. She worked at the Manitoba Beef Producers, Cargill, and for six years, has been running her own consulting company focused on business development.
In the lead-up to the election, the first-time political candidate Stone hit the ground running and was door-knocking in all of the different communities throughout the Midland riding.
“I volunteered at different events and really made sure that I was connecting with constituents and voters,” said Stone. “Having conversations with everyone was important as I’m a new face and a new candidate, and I wanted to make sure that people knew who I was. So I’m hoping that I brought and will keep bringing a fresh voice and fresh start for Midland and a positive energy as we move forward.”
On election night, when the votes were being tallied up, there was a bit of a delay for the Midland ridings results to pop up. Stone was both nervous and excited to eventually see her name being declared as the winner of the riding.
“As a new candidate, it was very exciting when I saw my name and the checkmark next to it on television. We toured across Midland on election day in Rosenort, Morris, Carman and Elm Creek as I wanted to make sure voters saw me out and about and had the opportunity to talk to me.”
Stone notes that although the NDP won a majority government over the PC’s in the province-wide election, as a new MLA, she wants to work tirelessly to help rebuild her party and to reflect a new generation of conservatives in Manitoba.
Now that she is the elected MLA for Midland, Stone wants to continue reaching out to her constituents and standing up for what’s important to them.
“I want to be a strong and positive voice in the legislature,” said Stone. “I think we have a lot of economic potential for Midland, and I want to make sure we’re telling our wonderful story. And I can’t wait to do that at the legislature and beyond.”
According to Elections Manitoba’s unofficial results, Stone earned 6,240 votes, followed by NDP candidate Hannah Drudge with 2,015 votes and Liberal candidate Jim Kane with 737 votes. There were also 22 declined ballots and 6 rejected ballots. In total, 9,020 people voted in Midland, for a 58 per cent voter turnout — higher than the provincial average of 55 per cent voter turnout.
Provincially, the New Democrats won a majority government, winning 34 seats, the Progressive Conservatives 22 and the Liberal Party 1.
Outgoing Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson announced she was stepping down as leader of the Tories after Wab Kinew’s New Democrats won a majority government making Canadian history as the first First Nations premier of a province.
Stefanson was the successful candidate in the Tuxedo riding during Tuesday’s election and will remain as the leader of the Manitoba PC Party until a successor is chosen.
Manitoba Liberal leader Dougald Lamont announced he’s also stepping down after losing his seat.
Dr. Jon Gerrard also stepped down after losing his seat in the River Heights constituency last week. Gerrard was the elected Member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba for the constituency since being elected in 1999.
Prior to that Gerrard was the elected Member of Parliament for Portage-Interlake.
From 1980 to 1993, Gerrard worked at the Children’s Hospital. From 1985 to 1992 he was the head of the section of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology.
