Conservative incumbent MP Mike Lake swept the riding of Leduc-Wetaskiwin in the 45th federal election on April 28.
Polls closed at 7:30 p.m., with ballots beginning to be counted across the 221 local polling stations.
By 9:30 p.m., Lake had 71.9 per cent of the vote with over 7,000 votes. His next closest opponent, Liberal candidate Ronald Brochu, had 1,615 votes, leaving little doubt of Lake's decisive victory.
"It felt pretty good the whole campaign," said Lake from his constituency office in Beaumont, Alta, on election night.
"We could feel the support," he said, adding his campaign team is now just watching the national results come in.
What remains to be seen is what side of the aisle Lake and the Conservative Party of Canada will be on, as advance poll numbers are added to election day results as the evening goes on, Lake said.
The numbers have been up and down, he said.
This is Lake's seventh term as MP and he has now been an elected official for 19 years.
Mike Lake was first elected as a Conservative Member of Parliament in 2006 in a landslide victory for the Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont riding. Previously, the Liberals had held the district since 1991.
The constituency changed to Edmonton—Wetaskiwin in 2015 and is now the Leduc-Wetaskiwin riding. In 2015, he was re-elected with 65.7 per cent of the vote.
Lake said while the name of the riding and the boundaries have changed a bit, the people are the same.
"It's a great riding to represent. The people are passionate here. There's a frustration, yeah, but also a real feeling of hope and optimism and a belief that we can do better than we have over the last 10 years," said Lake.
He said regardless of what the national election results will be, he's thankful and privileged for the opportunity to serve and he'll continue to work hard for the people of Leduc-Wetaskiwin.
Lake grew up in Devon, Alberta, and completed a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Alberta.
After graduating, he started a career as a sports executive, becoming the national accounts manager for the Edmonton Oilers NHL team.
Lake previously served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry under Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Lake commended his opponents for putting their names forward in the democratic process.
"I just have such an appreciation for anyone who puts their name on a sign ... that decides to run for something they believe in and puts their name behind it," he said.
The other Leduc-Wetaskiwin riding candidates are:
- Ronald Brochu — Liberal Party of Canada
- Kirk Cayer — United Party of Canada
- Christopher Everingham — Canadian Future Party
- Jose Flores — People’s Party of Canada
- Katherine Swampy — New Democratic Party
An estimated 7.3 million Canadians voted in the advance federal election polls over the Easter weekend, according to Elections Canada.
Preliminary data showed that 100,000 people across five different Central Alberta ridings used advance polls to cast their ballot ahead of election day, including 24,796 voters in the Leduc-Wetaskiwin constituency.
