Schuler claims victory in Springfield-Ritchot, kicking off his 7th term as MLA

It's his lucky seven. 

Springfield-Ritchot MLA Ron Schuler has been re-elected and will now be heading into his seventh term as an MLA. 

“I don't take it lightly”, notes Schuler. “With great humility, I accept this seventh win, and as I said at the door, I will work as hard these next four years as I did the previous four.” 

Schuler says he spent election night in his riding. 

“I was in Niverville at Smitty's with a large group of supporters and volunteers and that's where I stayed because we weren't too sure where things were going and I always like to be in my constituency and thank my supporters and more importantly, the voters of my constituency, which I did.” 

Schuler took 54.78 percent of the overall vote in the Springfield-Ritchot Riding. This is down only slightly from the 59.48 percent of the vote he claimed in 2019. Voter turnout was also down ever so slightly at 58 percent compared to 2019’s 60.5 percent. 

Though Schuler won, the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba did not. 

Having been an MLA for so many years, Schuler says he has the luxury of knowing what it is like to be in both government and the official opposition.  

“We'll be back in opposition, and I suspect I'll be called upon to give advice on how to transition from government to opposition. We have a lot of new members coming in. I'm looking forward to the role, whatever it'll be, that I'll have within caucus.” 

Schuler adds “You know, people have a right to elect a government, but they also elected an opposition. The expectation is, and we will deliver on it, that we will be a strong, solid opposition. We will be vigilant, we will hold them to account, and we will come out strong.” 

In her concession speech Tuesday night, Premier Heather Stefanson announced she would be stepping down as leader of Manitoba's Progressive Conservative Party. Schuler thanks her for her service. 

“I think tonight is her night. We owe it to her, she ran a very strong campaign, she was a good leader and tonight it's her night. I'd like to thank her for the campaign she ran. A lot of the seats were very close on the win and the loss and, probably, a couple thousand votes we could have been government.” 

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