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The constituency now called Regina Wascana Plains (since 1991) was first contested in 1967 as Regina South East, which was the first provincial election where the cities elected MLAs to multiple constituencies. The winning MLA in that election was Henry Baker of the NDP. Baker was first elected as a CCF MLA in 1964,and he would go on to be re-elected in 1971 in Regina South East, and 1975 and 1978 in Regina Victoria riding. Baker was also Mayor of Regina at the same time; in fact he was Mayor of Regina from 1955 to 1970 and from 1973 to 1976. However Baker never served in the Blakeney cabinet, and apparently he was not allowed to attend NDP caucus meetings either. In 1975, famous lawyer Tony Merchant was elected for the Liberals in this seat. In 1976 Tony unsuccessfully sought the Sask Liberal Leadership, and tried to become an MP 1979, 1980 and 1997, all unsuccesfully. Today Tony's wife is Senator Pana Merchant, and Merchant himself has built up his law practice into a national business of sorts. His most famous clients are the victims of the Indian Residential Schools. Merchant did not run for re-election in 1978, and the seat passed for one term to Clinton White of the NDP. In 1982, the Tories won Regina Wascana Plains, with Gord Currie being the successful MLA. Currie was coach of the Regina Rams and held several cabinet portfolios in the Devine Government, including Advanced Education and Manpower, Continuing Education, Education, Science and Technology, and Telephones. But Currie was dropped from cabinet in 1985 when Devine trimmed cabinet from 23 to 19, and Gord didn't seek re-election in 1986. The PCs hung onto to this seat by their fingernails in 1986, by a 55 vote margin. Beattie Martin held this seat for the PCs. Martin had been a Liberal before 1986, and was the nephew of former Saskatchewan Liberal Premier William Martin. But the former CBC sportscaster was recruited by the Tories, and he made the leap and won as an MLA. Martin was defeated in 1991 by City Councillor and former interim Mayor of Regina, Doreen Hamilton of the NDP, and later Martin was charged and convicted in the Tory Fraud Scandal.
Doreen Hamilton became the first MLA for the riding since Henry Baker to serve more than one term in the Legislature. it was many years before the former teacher was elevated into the Romanow cabinet, 1998 to be exact. Hamilton held several different portfolios in the NDP Government including Liquor and Gaming, SPMC, and the Public Service Commission. Hamilton rolled in with a landslide in Regina Wascana Plains in 1991, but in each of her subsequent victories in 1995, 1999 and 2003, the races were fairly close, In 1999, Hamilton only beat Dan Thibault of the Sask Party by 119 votes; the result was not predicted in advance and caught most political observers at the time by surprise.
Hamilton retired from politics in 2007, and Regina police officer Christine Tell won this seat handily for the Saskatchewan Party. Tell's margin of victory was by almost 2,400 votes, or 21 percentage points. From 2007 to 2009, Tell served as Minister of Tourism, Parks, Culture and Sport, Government Services, and the Sask Liquor and Gaming Authority.
In 2007, the Liberal candidate in Regina Wascana Plains won almost 15 percent of the vote. This time there is no Liberal in the race, so add that 14 percent to the 53 percent of the vote won by Tell in 2007, and Tell looks like a shoo-in for re-election on November with almost 70 percent of the vote. This does not include any momentum headed Tell's way from the provincial Sask Party campaign, so Tell may very well win on Monday with over 70 percent of the vote. The NDP candidate is Pat Maze, Bill Clary is running for the Greens, and the PCs are actually fielding a candidate this time; Roy Gaebel, who ran for the PCs in Regina in the past, is the Tory name on the ballot.
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