Winnipeg: Progressive Conservative candidate Colleen Robbins has won the Spruce Woods by-election. In this riding in western Manitoba, a Progressive Conservative stronghold, Colleen Robbins defeated the NDP’s Ray Berthelette by a mere 70-vote margin. The by-election was held after Grant Jackson resigned to run for the federal Conservatives in the federal general election in April.
According to unofficial figures from Elections Manitoba, after the first count was completed, Robbins received 2,805 votes, while Berthelette got 2,735 votes. Manitoba Liberal Party candidate Stephen Reid came in third with 444 votes. The figures also indicate that this was a tough contest for the rural constituency, which was formed in 2011 and has consistently voted for the Tories. In 2023, the Tories had secured more than 60 percent of the votes there. In this riding, where the voting percentage of the currently opposition Tories has never dropped below 60 percent, the ruling New Democrats have performed well in provincial-level opinion polls.
