Judy Klassen

Judy Klassen is a Canadian provincial politician, who was interim leader of the Manitoba Liberal Party,^[1] from October 2016 to June 2017, succeeding Rana Bokhari. Klassen was first elected as the Member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba for the riding of Keewatinook (then spelled Kewatinook) in the 2016 provincial election. She defeated incumbent New Democratic Party (NDP) MLA and Deputy Premier Eric Robinson in a closely contested race.^[2]

Judy Klassen
Leader of the Manitoba Liberal Party Interim
In office 21 October 2016 – 13 June 2017
Preceded by	Rana Bokhari
Succeeded by	Dougald Lamont
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba for Keewatinook
In office 19 April 2016 – 12 August 2019
Preceded by	Eric Robinson
Succeeded by	Ian Bushie
Personal details
Nationality	Canadian
Political party	Liberal

In April 2019, Klassen announced she would not be seeking re-election in Keewatinook, instead seeking the federal Liberal nomination for the riding of Churchill—Keewatinook Aski in the 2019 federal election.^[3] In July 2019, Klassen was acclaimed as the Liberal candidate.^[4] Her provincial riding covered much of the eastern portion of the federal riding. However, she lost by an over two-to-one margin to incumbent Niki Ashton of the NDP.

Klassen grew up in St. Theresa Point First Nation and has a business studies diploma from Red River College in Steinbach.^[5]

Electoral history

2019 Canadian federal election

v t e 2019 Canadian federal election: Churchill—Keewatinook Aski
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Niki Ashton	11,919	50.3
	Liberal	Judy Klassen	5,616	23.7
	Conservative	Cyara Bird	4,714	19.9
	Green	Ralph McLean	1,144	4.8
	People's	Ken Klyne	294	1.2
Total valid votes/Expense limit			23,687	100.0
Total rejected ballots			190
Turnout			23,877	48.8
Eligible voters			48,949
Source: Elections Canada^[6]^[7]

2016 Manitoba general election

v t e 2016 Manitoba general election: Keewatinook
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Judy Klassen	1,565	49.73	48.36	$30,958.72
	New Democratic	Eric Robinson	1,207	38.35	-18.79	$34,619.23
	Progressive Conservative	Edna Nabess	375	11.92	-26.94	$24,449.08
Total valid votes			3,147	–	–
Rejected			135	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			13,500	24.31	-11.37
	Liberal gain from New Democratic		Swing		+33.42
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (2016). Statement of Votes for the 41st Provincial General Election, April 19, 2016 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba."Candidates: 41st General Election". Elections Manitoba. 29 March 2016. Retrieved 31 March 2016.

References

1. Judy Klassen is Manitoba Liberals' 1st Indigenous leader. 4 November 2016 at the Wayback Machine CBC News, 21 October 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
2. "Manitoba election results - Kewatinook". Global News. 19 April 2016. from the original on 19 April 2016. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
3. Schroeder, Lara (11 April 2019). "MLA Judy Klassen sets sights on federal seat, saying 'proper representation' would save lives". CBC News. from the original on 12 September 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
4. "Liberal MLA acclaimed as federal Liberal candidate in Churchill-Keewatinook Aski riding". Thompson Citizen. 4 July 2019. from the original on 10 July 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
5. "Home". judyklassen.liberal.ca.
6. "List of confirmed candidates". Elections Canada. from the original on 8 October 2019. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
7. "Election Night Results". Elections Canada. from the original on 22 October 2019. Retrieved 9 November 2019.

External links

• Judy Klassen at The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba