Calvert recaptures home constituency

His party may have been relegated to opposition status for the first time in 16 years, but Lorne Calvert easily won in Saskatoon Riversdale.

With all polls reporting,the NDP leaderhad about 56 per cent of the vote, more than double thetotal of his nearest rival,Fred Ozirneyof the Saskatchewan Party. Liberal Roman Todos ran a distant third.

"I thank you, I thank you, I thank you," a composed Calvert told supporters at his headquarters.

"We ran a good campaign," he said. "We campaigned on our values."

Calvert said he would take some time to reflect on his future as leader in coming months. He said he'llconsult with his family andcaucusto make that decision "down the road."

"The likelihood is not great that I would lead the party into the next election, but that decision is not made," he told reporters. "I wouldn't make that tonight, I wouldn't make that next week."

Calvert, 54, had been dogged during the campaign by poll results that put his party more than 20 points behind the Saskatchewan Party.

Before the race even started, several key NDP MLAs had decided not to run again, including former cabinet ministers Andrew Thomson, Eric Cline and deputy premier Clay Serby, who is undergoing cancer treatment.

A series of spending announcements in the weeks leading up to the election call failed to boost the partys sagging popularity. Attack ads comparing the Saskatchewan Party to a wolf in sheeps clothing also failed to make an immediate impact.

Engineered 2003 comeback

But Calvert, who took over as premier in 2001, had come from behind before. He was credited with helping the party survive a close call in 2003 when he led the NDP to a two-seat majority government.

The Saskatchewan Party under leader Elwin Hermanson had pulled ahead by 6.5 per cent in one media poll in the spring before the November vote. Mid-campaign polls also indicated that two-thirds of Saskatchewan residents wanted a change from an NDP government that had been in power since 1991.

But with a boisterous Calvert leading the charge, the New Democrats roared back, helped in part by the leaders personal popularity at the time and campaign gaffes by Hermanson.