Bexte prevails in Bow River

Posted on May 1, 2025 by Vauxhall Advance

Southern Alberta Newspapers

Within the riding of Bow River, Conservative David Bexte secured the seat with roughly 83.7 per cent of votes when the riding was called, a sharp rise from the 69.76 per cent support gathered by Martin Shields in the 2021 federal election.

This was followed by 12.9 per cent support for Liberal candidate Bentley Barnes, 2.2 per cent for NDP candidate Louisa Gwin, 0.7 per cent for Christian Heritage candidate Tom Lipp and United Party of Canada candidate Aaron Patton with 0.5 per cent.

Bexte did not respond to multiple requests for a post-election win interview.

On the national front, the Liberal Party took 169 seats, followed by the Conservative Party with 144, the Bloc Quebecois with 22, the NDP with 7, and the Green Party with one seat, and the race for a majority at 172 seats just short although the Liberals will form government. 

Elections Canada’s preliminary estimates indicate that 19,583,016 Canadians cast a ballot. This translates into a voter turnout rate of about 68.65 per cent. Some 7,280,975 voted at advance polls between April 18 – 21.

The Liberals secured 43.5 per cent of the popular vote, followed closely by the Conservatives with 41.4 per cent. The Bloc had a slight edge over the NDP with 6.4 per cent and 6.3 per cent, respectively. The Green Party secured 1.2 per cent.

Conservative candidate Rachael Thomas maintained her seat with 63.8 per cent of the vote in Lethbridge when the riding was called.

Liberal candidate Chris Spearman followed with 29.8 per cent of the vote, Nathan Svoboda taking 3.2 per cent support for the NDP, Amber Murray with 0.6 per cent for the Green Party, 0.9 per cent for Clara Piedalue and the People’s Party of Canada and Marc Slingerland with 1.7 per cent support for the Christian Heritage Party.

This is an increase in support for the UCP from the 55.65 per cent of the vote in 2021.