Let's run through the leadership candidates one more time at the end of the Saskatchewan NDP leadership race to look at how (if at all) their position in the party looks to have changed coming out of this weekend's convention and what figures to come next - starting from the bottom of the vote standings and working our way up.
In some ways, the leadership race will likely be seen as somewhat of a disappointment for Deb Higgins, as she went from a strong second in name recognition to fourth in the leadership results. But it's worth putting those results in context compared to the last leadership race.
In 2001, Joanne Crofford and Buckley Belanger both ran as experienced cabinet members who likely figured that their prominent positions within the party would bring in a decent number of votes. But in a race with over twice as many ballots cast, the two barely won more first-ballot votes than Higgins alone managed this past weekend. And in percentage terms, Higgins' 14% first-ballot support was just below the 14.5% first-ballot vote of Crofford, Belanger and fellow cabinet minister Maynard Sonntag combined.
Of course, this year's race featured different dynamics - which resulted in Higgins dropping off after the first ballot, rather than getting to try to pick up support for another round (or two as Sonntag could have done if he hadn't chosen to withdraw). But while Higgins and her supporters may have hoped for more, she can certainly take credit for a respectable result in the vote totals to go with a solid performance as a candidate.
The question for Higgins is now whether the campaign will have much impact on her place within the party. If the Lingenfelter camp wants to hold grudges, it can certainly find some of Higgins' comments to hold against her - but for now I'll operate under the assumption that they're not about to go in that direction. Conversely, while somebody looking for reasons to promote Higgins within the party could probably find them in the leadership race (such as the fact that she managed to take what was already a well-developed constituency and earn the "most improved" title at the convention), she doesn't seem to have carried much public momentum out of the campaign.
Which means that Higgins will likely finish the leadership campaign exactly where she started it: as a well-respected MLA who figures to hold down a mid-ranking cabinet position in any NDP government she sits in, but likely won't be one of the main faces of the party. And while that may fall well short of her supporters' hope to make her the first female NDP leader and Saskatchewan premier, hopefully her work will help to ease the way for the woman who eventually blazes that trail.
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