Kubinec speaks after election win

Former Westlock county councillor edges Link Byfield by 341 votes

It may not have been a Ken Kowalski-style sweep, but Maureen Kubinec has been elected as the new MLA for Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock.

In a tight two-way race with Wildrose candidate Link Byfield, Kubinec emerged victorious, having garnered 7,447 votes, compared to 7,106 votes for Byfield.

Those votes gave Kubinec 45 per cent support, while Byfield received 43 per cent support.

Speaking two days after the final ballot was counted, Kubinec said learning she had won the election was a nice feeling.

“It felt pretty darn good,” she said. “It was very exciting and very humbling. It was good to have family and friends there to share it with.”

The fact the race was so close and came down to the final dozen polls reporting on election night did a number on her and her supporters, she said. They had ordered in food for the evening, but no one was in the mood to eat “because we were all glued to the numbers.”

It wasn’t until nearly 11 p.m. when she and her team determined that she had indeed become the riding’s new MLA, she said.

With all the major pollsters predicting at least a Wildrose minority government, Kubinec said she didn’t pay attention to the polls after the first three days of the campaign.

“I had been advised right from the beginning, don’t listen to the polls, and just keep your head down and work,” she said.

That she did, telling her husband not to tell her anything about what the pollsters were saying, and simply working as if she were trailing by 10 votes every day.

Now that the campaign is over, Kubinec said her next task is an orientation for new MLAs at the legislature.

“That’s going to be really helpful, and I’m looking forward to that,” she said.

She also said she’s been notified by Premier Alison Redford that there will be a spring sitting of the legislature, which is something she’s eager to experience.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” she said. “I think that some of my past experiences within our community, at the school board level and at the county level will really make that transition a little bit easier.”

As a new MLA, and especially one who is replacing someone like Kowalski, Kubinec is aware she needs to be herself and bring what she can to the floor.

“I want to take honesty and common sense to the table,” she said. “I’ve said that throughout the campaign, and I want to be that voice of reason.”

Kubinec also said she takes a more panoramic view of her new duties.

“I think we live in such an amazing province in this country,” she said. “I think we have to always be aware that we need to be good stewards of our abundances and to always take nothing for granted.”

While the party leaders were sniping at each other while crisscrossing the province, Kubinec said the race in the riding was a lot more civil.

“I have to say I thought people ran a clean campaign,” she said. “That’s what I was looking for, that’s what I wanted, and I thought that it went well.”