Steinbach (electoral district)

Steinbach is a provincial electoral division in the Canadian province of Manitoba that encompasses the city of Steinbach, the riding's namesake, and northeastern part of the Rural Municipality of Hanover.

Steinbach

Manitoba electoral district
Provincial electoral district
Legislature	Legislative Assembly of Manitoba
MLA	Kelvin Goertzen Progressive Conservative
District created	1989
Last contested	2023
Demographics
Population (2016)	22,965
Electors (2019)	14,623
Area (km²)	201
Pop. density (per km²)	114.3

The current MLA is Kelvin Goertzen, who was first elected with almost 75% of the vote in 2003. Goertzen also briefly served as Premier of Manitoba in 2021.^[1]

History

It was created by redistribution in 1989, and has formally existed since the provincial election of 1990. Originally a much larger riding in terms of geographical area, Steinbach has been redistributed three times (1999, 2011, and 2019) in response to the city of Steinbach's rapid population growth and is now among the smallest provincial ridings in terms of land area outside of Winnipeg.

The riding is currently bordered by the riding of Dawson Trail to the north and east, and La Verendrye to the south and west. Prior to the redistribution ahead of the 2019 election, the riding was bordered by the former Emerson riding to the west, La Verendrye to the south and east, Dawson Trail to the north, and former Morris riding to the west.^[2]

Demographics

As of 2016, thirty-four per cent of the riding's residents list German as their ethnic origin, and a further 7% list themselves as Dutch. There is a very strong Mennonite presence in the riding. Steinbach's population in 2006 was 19,415. In the year 1999, the average family income was $46,133, and the unemployment rate was 5.00%. Manufacturing accounts for 17% of the riding's industry, followed by agriculture at 14%.

Voting history

The riding has been held by the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba since its creation, and is considered extremely safe for that party. Steinbach's rural nature, as well as the city's religious background, gives the riding a strong social conservative tint. Manitoba political pundits often refer to Steinbach as a "yellow dog riding," as it is one of many rural ridings where it is often said in jest that the Tories could nominate a yellow dog and still win.^[3] It is located within the federal riding of Provencher.

List of provincial representatives

Assembly	Years	Member		Party
Riding created from La Verendrye and Emerson
35th	1990-1995		Albert Driedger	Progressive Conservative
36th	1995-1999
37th	1999-2003		Jim Penner
38th	2003-2007		Kelvin Goertzen
39th	2007-2011
40th	2011-2016
41st	2016–2019
42nd	2019–2023
43rd	2023–present

Electoral results

1990

1990 Manitoba general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Progressive Conservative	Albert Driedger	5,540	75.64
	Liberal	Cornelius Goertzen	1,171	15.99
	New Democratic	Marcel Lagasse	483	6.59
	Libertarian	Ken McAllister	130	1.77
Total valid votes			7,324	–
Rejected			19	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			12,725	57.71
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

1995

1995 Manitoba general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Albert Driedger	5,975	74.99	-0.65
	Liberal	Cornelius Goertzen	1,206	15.14	-0.85
	New Democratic	Peter Hiebert	787	9.88	3.28
Total valid votes			7,968	–	–
Rejected			55	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			13,710	58.52	0.81
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

1999

v t e 1999 Manitoba general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Progressive Conservative	Jim Penner	5,708	78.13	3.14	$27,412.91
	New Democratic	Peter Hiebert	910	12.46	2.58	$21.00
	Liberal	Rick Ginter	688	9.42	-5.72	$3,179.52
Total valid votes			7,306	–	–
Rejected			48	–
Eligible voters / turnout			12,787	57.51	-1.01
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

2003

v t e 2003 Manitoba general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Progressive Conservative	Kelvin Goertzen	4,284	74.63	-3.49	$24,714.92
	New Democratic	Bonnie Schmidt	875	15.24	2.79	$341.35
	Liberal	Monica Guetre	455	7.93	-1.49	$3,465.33
	Green	Connie Jantz	126	2.20	–	$74.58
Total valid votes			5,740	–	–
Rejected			41	–
Eligible voters / turnout			13,768	41.99	-15.52
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (2003). Statement of Votes for the 38th Provincial General Election, June 3, 2003 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

2007

v t e 2007 Manitoba general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Progressive Conservative	Kelvin Goertzen	6,144	82.98	8.35	$25,321.51
	New Democratic	Rawle Squires	641	8.66	-6.59	$331.36
	Liberal	Jonathan Thiessen	351	4.74	-3.19	$340.30
	Green	Janine G. Gibson	268	3.62	1.42	$421.15
Total valid votes			7,404	–	–
Rejected			25	–
Eligible voters / turnout			14,863	49.98	7.99
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (2007). Statement of Votes for the 39th Provincial General Election, May 22, 2007 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

2011

v t e 2011 Manitoba general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Progressive Conservative	Kelvin Goertzen	5,469	85.49	2.51	$28,130.00
	New Democratic	Dally Gutierrez	488	7.63	-1.03	$0.00
	Liberal	Lee Fehler	440	6.88	2.14	$987.95
Total valid votes			6,397	–	–
Rejected			26	–
Eligible voters / turnout			12,934	49.66	-0.32
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (2011). Statement of Votes for the 40th Provincial General Election, October 4, 2011 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba. "Election Returns: 40th General Election". Elections Manitoba. 2011. Retrieved September 12, 2018.

2016

v t e 2016 Manitoba general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Progressive Conservative	Kelvin Goertzen	6,982	89.17	3.68	$17,469.05
	Liberal	Dakota Young-Brown	461	5.89	-0.99	$5.84
	New Democratic	Kathleen McCallum	387	4.94	-2.69	$146.90
Total valid votes			7,830	–	–
Rejected			87	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			15,310	51.71	2.05
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. "Election Returns: 41st General Election". Elections Manitoba. 2016. Retrieved September 10, 2018.

2019

v t e 2019 Manitoba general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Progressive Conservative	Kelvin Goertzen	6,241	81.64	-7.53	$14,150.78
	New Democratic	Robert Jessup	616	8.06	3.12	$612.56
	Green	Janine Gibson	418	5.47	–	$0.00
	Liberal	LeAmber Kensley	370	4.84	-1.05	$0.00
Total valid votes			7,645	–	–
Rejected			31	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			14,623	52.49	0.78
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (2019). Statement of Votes for the 42nd Provincial General Election, September 10, 2019 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba. "Candidate Election Returns". Elections Manitoba. Elections Manitoba. Retrieved March 2, 2020.

2023

2023 Manitoba general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
Total valid votes
Rejected
Eligible voters / Turnout

Previous boundaries

 

The 1999-2011 boundaries for Steinbach highlighted in red.

References

1. "Our Team - Kelvin Goertzen". PC Manitoba. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
2. "Steinbach Electoral District". Boundaries Commission of Manitoba. Retrieved November 22, 2010.
3. "Manitoba Votes 2003 - Party Leaders - Stuart Murray". CBC News. Retrieved August 1, 2010.

49°31′55″N 96°43′44″W / 49.532°N 96.729°W / 49.532; -96.729