River East

The 2011- boundaries for River East highlighted in red

River East is a provincial electoral division in the Canadian province of Manitoba. It was officially created by redistribution in 1979, and has formally existed since the provincial election of 1981. The riding is located on the northeast corner of the City of Winnipeg. It is bordered by the Red River to the west, the city limit, by Springfield to the north and east, and by the riding of Rossmere to the south.

River East is an affluent district with an average income of $62,534 and an unemployment rate of 5.60% in 1999. It also has a large immigrant population, at 17% of the total population. Twelve per cent of River East's residents list German as their ethnic origin, while a further 9% list Ukrainian. The riding's total population in 1996 was 19,840.

It is currently the only riding in the northern part of Winnipeg to be represented by a Progressive Conservative. Bonnie Mitchelson has been the Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for the area since 1986, and has been re-elected five times. Once considered safe for the Progressive Conservatives, the seat has become extremely marginal for the party, with Mitchelson being re-elected in the 2007 provincial election by only 52 votes over a relatively unknown New Democratic Party of Manitoba (NDP) candidate. Bonnie Mitchelson announced her retirement in October, 2014. She will not be seeking re-election in the next provincial election.

List of provincial representatives

Name Party Took Office Left Office
Phil Eyler NDP 1981 1986
Bonnie Mitchelson PC 1986 present

Electoral results

Manitoba general election, 2011
Party Candidate Votes%∆%
Progressive ConservativeBonnie Mitchelson 5,247 51.08 +4.45
New DemocraticKurt Penner 4,512 43.92 -2.15
GreenKelly Mitchell 274 2.67
LiberalChris Pelda 188 1.83 -4.97
Total valid votes 10,221
Rejected and declined ballots 52
Turnout 10,27367.00
Electors on the lists 15,332
Manitoba general election, 2007
Party Candidate Votes%∆%Expenditures
     Progressive Conservative Bonnie Mitchelson 4,361 46.63 -4.65 $29,722.71
     New Democratic Party Kurt Penner 4,309 46.07 -0.33 $24,605.30
LiberalMargaret von Lau 639 6.80 +3.83 $8,485.65
Total valid votes 9,309 99.54
Rejected and declined ballots 43
Turnout 9,352 67.60 -0.41
Electors on the lists 13,835

[1]

Manitoba general election, 2003
Party Candidate Votes%∆%Expenditures
     Progressive Conservative Bonnie Mitchelson 4,935 51.28 +1.29 $28,259.55
     New Democratic Party Doug Longstaffe 4,402 45.74 +2.67 $19,179.77
LiberalFred Curry 286 2.97 -3.89 $239.00
Total valid votes 9,623 100.00
Rejected and declined ballots 35
Turnout 9,658 68.01
Electors on the lists 14,201

[2]

Manitoba general election, 1999
Party Candidate Votes%∆%Expenditures
     Progressive Conservative Bonnie Mitchelson 5,366 49.99 $29,856.57
     New Democratic Party Ross Eadie 4,624 43.07 $15,953.00
LiberalPatrick Saydak 688 6.86 $1,187.72
Total valid votes 10,678 100.00
Rejected and declined ballots 57
Turnout 10,735 77.30
Electors on the lists 13,877

[3]

Previous boundaries

The 1999-2011 boundaries for River East highlighted in red

References

Coordinates: 49°56′38″N 97°02′56″W / 49.944°N 97.049°W