| Richard Swenson | |
|---|---|
| Progressive Conservative Party of Saskatchewan Leader | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 2006 |
|
| Preceded by | Iris Dennis |
| Leader of the Opposition | |
| In office 1993–1994 |
|
| Preceded by | Roy Romanow |
| Succeeded by | Bill Boyd |
| MLA for Thunder Creek | |
| In office 1985–1995 |
|
| Preceded by | Colin Thatcher |
| Succeeded by | Gerard Aldridge |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1952[1] |
| Political party | Progressive Conservative |
Richard "Rick" James Swenson (born 1952) is a provincial level politician from Saskatchewan, Canada. He was a member of the Saskatchewan Legislature from 1985 to 1995,[1] and is still active in provincial politics as the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Saskatchewan since 2006.
Swenson was elected to the Legislature in a by-election held in the Thunder Creek electoral district on March 27, 1985. He was elected to replace former MLA Colin Thatcher who was convicted of murdering his wife. In that by-election he won a hotly contested three way race defeating three other candidates with a plurality of 900 votes.
Swenson was re-elected just a little over a year later in the 1986 general election. He won that election by a much wider margin facing two of the three candidates that ran in the by-election. Swenson won his third term in the 1991 general election narrowly being returned to his seat. Swenson served as interim leader of the Progressive Conservatives from October 8, 1992 to November 24, 1994. He retired from his seat in 1995.
Swenson returned to provincial politics in 2006, becoming leader of the Progressive Conservative Party. He took over leadership of the party from Iris Dennis, who had served as leader since 1997. He ran as a Progressive Conservative candidate in the Thunder Creek constituency in the 2007 general election and placed fourth out of five candidates.
| Saskatchewan general election, 2011: Moose Jaw North | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Saskatchewan Party | Warren Michelson | 4,474 | 59.09% | - | |
| NDP | Derek Hassen | 2,726 | 36.01% | - | |
| Prog. Conservative | Richard Swenson | 273 | 3.61% | - | |
| Greens | Corinne Johnson | 98 | 1.29% | - | |
| Total | 7,571 | 100.00 | |||
| Saskatchewan general election, 2007: Thunder Creek | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Saskatchewan Party | Lyle Stewart | 5,558 | 64.45% | +10.92 | |
| NDP | Larry Hall | 1,997 | 23.16% | -7.65 | |
| Liberal | Rod Haugerud | 590 | 6.84% | -6.84 | |
| Prog. Conservative | Richard Swenson | 295 | 3.42% | - | |
| Green | Russ Rudd | 184 | 2.13% | - | |
| Total | 8,624 | 100.00% | |||
| Saskatchewan general election, 1991: Thunder Creek | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Progressive Conservative | Richard Swenson | 2,929 | 42.61% | -10.91 | |
| NDP | Ron Bishoff | 2,240 | 32.59% | +6.15 | |
| Liberal | Bill Johnstone | 1,639 | 23.84% | +4.34 | |
| Independent | Dwayne McBride | 66 | 0.96% | - | |
| Total | 6,874 | 100.00% | |||
| Saskatchewan general election, 1986: Thunder Creek | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Progressive Conservative | Richard Swenson | 3,773 | 53.52% | +11.03 | |
| NDP | Betty Payne | 1,864 | 26.44% | -1.09 | |
| Liberal | Bill Johnstone | 1,375 | 19.50% | -7.60 | |
| Western Canada Concept | Robert Gleim | 38 | 0.54% | -2.34 | |
| Total | 7,050 | 100.00% | |||
| March 27, 1985 by-election: Thunder Creek resignation of Colin Thatcher |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Progressive Conservative | Richard Swenson | 2,670 | 42.49% | - | |
| NDP | Betty Payne | 1,730 | 27.53% | - | |
| Liberal | Bill Johnstone | 1,703 | 27.10% | - | |
| Western Canada Concept | Henry Banman | 181 | 2.88% | - | |
| Total | 6,284 | 100.00% | |||
|
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