River East was a provincial electoral division in the Canadian province of Manitoba. It was officially created by redistribution in 1979, and formally existed since the provincial election of 1981 until 2019.

River East
Manitoba electoral district
Defunct provincial electoral district
LegislatureLegislative Assembly of Manitoba
District created1979
First contested1981
Last contested2016

The riding was located on the northeast corner of the City of Winnipeg, 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.

It was replaced for the 2019 election by the new Kildonan-River East district.

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

History

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River East was the only riding in the northern part of Winnipeg to be represented by a Progressive Conservative up until the 2016 general election. Bonnie Mitchelson was the Member of the Legislative Assembly for the area from 1986 to 2016, and was re-elected five times. Bonnie Mitchelson announced her retirement in October, 2014,[1] and did not seek re-election in the 2016 general election. The seat was won by Cathy Cox, who held it for the Progressive Conservatives while defeating NDP challenger Jody Gillis. Once considered safe for the Progressive Conservatives, the seat became extremely marginal, with Mitchelson being re-elected in the 2007 provincial election by only 52 votes over the New Democrat candidate. Since then, the PC majorities have increased in 2011 and 2016.

List of provincial representatives

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Name Party Took office Left office
Phil Eyler NDP 1981 1986
Bonnie Mitchelson PC 1986 2016
Cathy Cox PC 2016 2023

Electoral results

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2016

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2016 Manitoba general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Progressive Conservative Cathy Cox 6,154 65.71 +14.63 $24,565.22
New Democratic Jody Gillis 2,435 26 -17.92 $13,778.08
Liberal Piero Scaramuzzi 776 8.29 +6.46 $1,807.54
Total valid votes/expense limit 9365 100.0  
Total rejected ballots 64
Total declined ballots 146
Turnout 9575 65.94
Registered voters 14521
Source: Elections Manitoba[2][3]

2011

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2011 Manitoba general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Progressive Conservative Bonnie Mitchelson 5,247 51.08 +4.45 $34,898.69
New Democratic Kurt Penner 4,512 43.92 −2.15 $29,899.44
Green Kelly Mitchell 274 2.67 $0.00
Liberal Chris Pelda 188 1.83 −4.97 $376.14
Total valid votes 10,221
Rejected and declined ballots 52
Turnout 10,273 67.00
Electors on the lists 15,332
Progressive Conservative hold Swing -
Source: Elections Manitoba[4]

2007

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2007 Manitoba general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Progressive Conservative Bonnie Mitchelson 4,361 46.63 −4.65 $29,722.71
New Democratic Kurt Penner 4,309 46.07 −0.33 $24,605.30
Liberal Margaret 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
Progressive Conservative hold Swing -

[5]

2003

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2003 Manitoba general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Progressive Conservative Bonnie Mitchelson 4,935 51.28 +1.29 $28,259.55
New Democratic Doug Longstaffe 4,402 45.74 +2.67 $19,179.77
Liberal Fred 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
Progressive Conservative hold Swing -

[6]

1999

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1999 Manitoba general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Progressive Conservative Bonnie Mitchelson 5,366 49.99 $29,856.57
New Democratic Ross Eadie 4,624 43.07 $15,953.00
Liberal Patrick 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
Progressive Conservative hold Swing -

[7]

Previous boundaries

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The 1999-2011 boundaries for River East highlighted in red

References

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  1. ^ "River East MLA Bonnie Mitchelson Announces Retirement". CJOB. October 17, 2014.
  2. ^ "Election Night Results 2016". Elections Manitoba. April 19, 2016. Retrieved May 23, 2016.
  3. ^ "Election Returns: 41st General Election". Elections Manitoba. 2016. Retrieved September 10, 2018.
  4. ^ "Election Returns: 40th General Election". Elections Manitoba. 2011. Retrieved September 10, 2018.
  5. ^ "River East — Official Results — 2007 Provincial Election". Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved August 7, 2010., 2007 Results
  6. ^ "River East — Official Results — 2003 Provincial Election". Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved December 10, 2009., 2003 Results
  7. ^ "Summary of Results - 1999 General Election". Archived from the original on July 17, 2011. Retrieved August 7, 2010., 1999 Results

49°56′38″N 97°02′56″W / 49.944°N 97.049°W / 49.944; -97.049