The third time turned out to be a charm for Saskatoon Meewasin MLA Ryan Meili, who was chosen as the new Saskatchewan NDP leader on Saturday.
Meili defeated rival Trent Wotherspoon, the MLA for Regina Rosemont, in a vote at a party leadership convention in Regina, capturing 55 per cent of the vote.
"It's blowing pretty hard today — I think those might be the winds of change," he said to applause and cheers.
Meili had run for the party's leadership unsuccessfully twice before, arguing that the party needed to be renewed and revived with some fresh thinking.
"Today, we face a choice, both as a party and as a province," he told party members during his speech earlier in the afternoon. "Do we stick with what hasn't been working or take a risk for change?"
He told the audience that Saskatchewan people are looking for change and the NDP could be that change.
This campaign was his first as an elected MLA, with Meili having won a byelection in March of 2017.
NDP MLA Ryan Meili won his seat in a byelection last year, and was supported by Trent Wotherspoon, who was the NDP interim leader at the time. The two men both ran for the leadership of the party, with Meili prevailing in the race. (Trevor Bothorel/CBC News)
Voter turnout in the campaign was 81 per cent, with 10,837 people of 13,414 registered Saskatchewan NDP members casting votes.
Wotherspoon took to the stage first following the result, to congratulate Meili and introduce him as the new leader and "the next premier" of Saskatchewan.
Meili reserved his first thanks for Wotherspoon, saying he had spent a lot of time with his leadership rival, and gotten to like him more and more, as an "incredibly dedicated, smart, genuine, great dude."
In the leadership debates leading up to the vote, Meili and Wotherspoon agreed that they shared similar views on a number of fronts, including the need to protect Crowns from privatization, closing the gaps in funding for schools on reserve, and introducing a minimum wage of $15.
But while Wotherspoon pointed to his years of experience and caucus support, Meili emphasized that the party had not gotten far with the approach of playing it safe.
Meili offered commitments to introduce pharmacare, implement a poverty-reduction strategy, increase the province's renewable energy supply, and get rid of corporate and union donations to the party.
The NDP has been without a leader since the resignation of Cam Broten, who failed to win his seat in the 2016 election.
Meili's challenge is to lead the NDP in unseating a Saskatchewan Party led by Premier Scott Moe, who took over the party leadership from perennially popular Brad Wall in January. As the Sask. Party leader, Wall led the party to consecutive wins in the 2007, 2011 and 2016 elections.
Three byelections held in Kindersley, Melfort and Swift Current saw the Sask. Party re-capture the ridings on Thursday night, with the party's candidates winning the seats handily.
Meili said the NDP is ready to lead, but before it can do that, it must be a party of listeners, to hear the big ideas and dreams of the people of Saskatchewan.
"We're going to work together to make those dreams a reality," he told the crowd. "I'm so excited."
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