For more information on Humboldt constituency, please click on this link.
Upon upon a time, in a Saskatchewan political age not dominated by dillettantes, Humboldt constituency was a Liberal fortress. The core of the voting base was made up of people of German Catholic ancestry, and the reputation of Humboldt voters lasted until recent times.
The first MLA was elected for Humboldt constituency in 1905. David Neely was a doctor who was originally from Ontario, but was part of the Western drive to settle Saskatchewan with entrepreneurs early in the 20th century. Neely was re-elected in 1908, then made the leap to federal politics. He was replaced in a December 1905 by-election by William Motherwell, the powerful Minister of Agriculture in the Saskatchewan Liberal dynasty. Motherwell replaced in 1912 by fellow Liberal William Turgeon. Turgeon had previously served as the MLA for Prince Albert City from 1907 to 1908 and for Duck Lake from 1908 to 1912. Turgeon served first as Provincial Secretary in the Liberal dynasty, then became Attorney General. After he left the Liberal Government in 1921, he became a Justice with the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal, then Chief Justice of Saskatchewan. After 1941 Turgeon became a diplomat with the federal government and represented Canada as Ambassador in Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Belgium, Luxembourg, Ireland and Portugal.
Henry Therres was acclaimed as the Liberal MLA for Humboldt in 1921, and retained his seat as an Independent Liberal in 1925 and then again as a Liberal in 1929. James Hogan kept the seat for the Liberals in 1934, and then James King won the seat again in a November 1935 by-election and the 1938 provincial election. But in a 1938 by-election, Liberal dominance in Humboldt ended with a CCF victory. The winning candidate was Joseph Burton. Burton didn't run for re-election in 1944 and was succeeded by fellow CCFer Ben Putnam. In 1948 Arnold Loehr won Humboldt back for the Liberals but in 1952 Burton won the seat again for the CCF, and he became Provincial Secretary in the Douglas Government. In 1956 Mary Batten took back Humboldt for the Liberals. Batten became the first woman of Ukrainian ancestry to be elected as an MLA in Saskatchewan. She was re-elected in 1960 but in 1964 she was appointed to Court of Queen's Bench, and later served as Chief Justice until her retirement in 1990.
In 1964 Batten was succeeded by fellow Liberal Matt Breker. Breker was re-elected in 1964 but went down to defeat in 1971 to a teacher named Ed Tchorzewski. Tchorzewski later went on to become a big player in Saskatchewan NDP politics, and served in several cabinet positions. Tchorzewski was defeated in 1982 and later won the Regina North East by-election on November 25, 1985. The new MLA for Humboldt in 1982 was Louis Domotor with the PC Party. But Domotor's time in office was short, as he was defeated in 1986 by Eric Upshall, a farmer from Young who ran for the NDP. Upshall was re-elected in 1991 and 1995, and became Minister of Agriculture in the Romanow Government. However there was a redrawing of the boundaries for 1995, and Upshall was re-elected in the Watrous constituency. Thus Arlene Jule of Bruno was elected the Liberal MLA for Humboldt in 1995. Three years later she joined the Saskatchewan Party, and was re-elected in 1999. After another redrawing of the boundaries, Donna Harpauer of the Sask Party became MLA for Humboldt in 2003, and was easily re-elected in 2007 with 57 percent of the vote.
Incredibly, there will be no Liberal candidate this time in Humboldt. That and the strong momentum behind Brad Wall and the Saskatchewan Party ensures that Harpauer will easily be re-elected here, likely with 65 to 70 percent of the vote.
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