Richard Swenson

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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	(1952-04-12) April 12, 1952 Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan^[1]
Political party	Progressive Conservative

Richard "Rick" James Swenson (born April 12, 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.

He was born in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, the son of Donald Swenson, and grew up in the Baildon district. Swenson was educated at the University of Saskatchewan and the University of Regina. In 1976, he established Wheaton Bee Farms, specializing in alfalfa seed and dryland grass production. Solomon also helped form the Baildon/Moose Jaw Effluent Irrigation Project.^[1]

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. He served in the provincial cabinet as Minister of Energy and Mines and as Minister of Indian and Métis Affairs. Swenson served as interim leader of the Progressive Conservatives from October 8, 1992 to November 24, 1994. He retired from his seat in 1995.^[1]

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.

Electoral record

Saskatchewan general election, 2011: Moose Jaw North
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Saskatchewan	Warren Michelson	4,474	59.09%	-
	NDP	Derek Hassen	2,726	36.01%	-
	Prog. Conservative	Richard Swenson	273	3.61%	-
	Green	Corinne Johnson	98	1.29%	-
Total			7,571	100.00

Saskatchewan general election, 2007: Thunder Creek
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Saskatchewan	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%

References

↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Swenson, Richard James, 1952-". Saskatchewan Archival Information Network. Retrieved 2012-09-05.

External links

v t e Progressive Conservative Party of Saskatchewan

Party leaders	Haultain (NWT) ¤ Willoughby McLean Anderson Diefenbaker Keown Ramsay Hamilton Pederson Nasserden Collver Devine Swenson Boyd Dennis Swenson

Leadership elections	1942 1949 1958 1970 1973 1979 1994

Persondata
Name	Swenson, Rick
Alternative names	Richard Swenson
Short description	Current leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Saskatchewan, Member of the 21st and 22nd Legislative Assemblies of Saskatchewan.
Date of birth	1952
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death

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