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The electoral history of Regina Qu'Appelle Valley constituency is the only one of the Regina seats with its history going back to 1905. The Lumsden constituency was first won by the Liberals in 1905, and the first MLA was Premier Walter Scott (who by 1908 switched to Swift Current constituency). In 1908, Frederick Tate of the Provincial Rights Party won Lumsden and was re-elected in 1912. In 1917 William Vancise won back Lumsden for the Liberals and was re-elected in Lumsden in 1921. Hugh Kerr Miller won for the Liberals in 1925 but in 1929 Lumsden fell to James Bryant of the Conservative Party. Prior to winning, Bryant was President of the Saskatchewan School Trustees and Chair of the Regina Public School Board. He served briefly as Speaker in 1929, and went on to hold cabinet positions in the infamous Anderson Government, including Public Works, and Telephones and Telegraphs. Like every other member of the Anderson Government, Bryant was defeated in 1934. The Liberals won back Lumsden with Henry Mang as their candidate. Mang was from Edenwold and was educated at the University of Toronto. Mang served one term as an MLA, then was elected as a Liberal MP for one term in 1953 before being defeated by Alvin Hamilton. Robert Donaldson was elected as a Liberal for one term in 1938 and then the politics of this riding underwent a sea change.
In 1944, the CCF won Lumsden with William Thair as the MLA. Thair was re-elected in 1948, but in 1952 the CCF won Lumsden again with Cliff Thurston. Thurston was re-elected in 1956 and 1960, but lost in 196r when Ross Thatcher and the Liberals rolled into power. The winner in 1964 was Liberal candidate Darrel Heald, a lawyer who became Justice Minister in the Thatcher Government. Heald was re-elected in 1967 but retired in 1971, and was replaced by fellow Liberal Gary Lane. Lane worked for Ross Thatcher at the Legislature prior to being elected as an MLA. Lane was re-elected in 1975, and briefly considered running in the 1976 Liberal leadership race to replace Davey Steuart. But instead of running in the leadership, he could see that the federal Liberal dilletantes were already destroying the Sask Liberal Party from within, and it would be hopeless to make progress with them, so instead he switched to the PC Party. It was an event that helped fuel the rise of the PC Party of Saskatchewan, and the fall of the Sask Liberals. Lane went on to easy re-election as a Tory in 1978, and again in 1982 and 1986 before retiring in 1991. Lane was a powerful minister in the Devine Government, serving first as Minister of Justice and Attorney General, then later as Minister of Finance and Minister responsible for the Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan. It was Lane who oversaw the privatization of PCS in 1989. Lane was appointed to the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal in 1991.
In 1991 Lane was replaced as the MLA for Qu'Appelle-Lumsden by Suzanne Murray of the NDP. Murray was re-elected in 1995 in the newly redrawn constituency of Regina Qu'Appelle Valley, beating Regina North West MLA Anita Bergman. Murray didn't run again in 1999, and was replaced by fellow New Democrat Mark Wartman, a United Church Minister. Wartman served as Minister of Agriculture in the Calvert Government. Wartman was re-elected in 2003 but lost in a close contest with Laura Ross of the Saskatchewan Party in 2007 by 204 votes. Ross, a realtor joined the Wall Cabinet in 2010 as Minister of Government Services.
Ross is running for re-election on November 7. Her NDP opponent this time is Steve Ryan, who ran for the New Democrats in Wood River in 2007. Ryan is the brother of Jon Ryan, punter for the NFL's Seattle Seahawks, and is the brother-in-law of Regina Qu'Appelle Conservative MP Andrew Scheer. The Green candidate is Billy Patterson, an environmental activist and past federal Green candidate. Also, Hafeez Chaudhuri, an Independent, is running here this time. There is no Liberal candidate in Regina Qu'Appelle Valley this time; in 2007, Mike Huber got 15 percent of the vote for the Liberals here. Ross won about 43 percent of the vote in RQV last time, so add the 15 percent won by the Liberals, and that puts the Sask Party at almost 60 percent support in the seat. Then given the provincial momentum behind the Sask Party, Ross may very well win over 60 percent of the vote here on Monday.
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