# River East

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.
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

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, 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

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

## Electoral results
### 2016

vte2016 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 | Total valid votes/expense limit | Total valid votes/expense limit | 9365 | 100.0 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 64 |
| Total declined ballots | Total declined ballots | Total declined ballots | 146 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 9575 | 65.94 | – |
| Registered voters | Registered voters | Registered voters | 14521 |
| Source: Elections Manitoba |||||||

### 2011

vte2011 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 | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 10,221 |
| Rejected and declined ballots | Rejected and declined ballots | Rejected and declined ballots | 52 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 10,273 | 67.00 |
| Electors on the lists | Electors on the lists | Electors on the lists | 15,332 |
| | Progressive Conservative hold | Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | Swing | - |
| Source: Elections Manitoba |||||||

### 2007

vte2007 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 | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 9,309 | 99.54 |
| Rejected and declined ballots | Rejected and declined ballots | Rejected and declined ballots | 43 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 9,352 | 67.60 | −0.41 |
| Electors on the lists | Electors on the lists | Electors on the lists | 13,835 |
| | Progressive Conservative hold | Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | Swing | - |

### 2003

vte2003 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 | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 9,623 | 100.00 |
| Rejected and declined ballots | Rejected and declined ballots | Rejected and declined ballots | 35 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 9,658 | 68.01 |
| Electors on the lists | Electors on the lists | Electors on the lists | 14,201 |
| | Progressive Conservative hold | Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | Swing | - |

### 1999

vte1999 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 | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 10,678 | 100.00 |
| Rejected and declined ballots | Rejected and declined ballots | Rejected and declined ballots | 57 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 10,735 | 77.30 |
| Electors on the lists | Electors on the lists | Electors on the lists | 13,877 |
| | Progressive Conservative hold | Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | Swing | - |