NDP MLA (1978–2000) Lingenfelter was first elected to the
Legislature in his home constituency of
Shaunavon in the
1978 election. The NDP under Allan Blakeney won its third consecutive majority government in the election. In 1980, Lingenfelter joined the cabinet when he was appointed Minister of Social Services. The NDP were swept from power in the
1982 election by
Grant Devine's
Progressive Conservative Party; Lingenfelter was one of only nine NDP members elected. From 1982 to 1986, he served as the Opposition House Leader. Lingenfelter lost his re-election bid in the
1986 election. In 1987, Lingenfelter ran and won the race for the presidency of the Saskatchewan NDP. However, with the Devine PCs winning a second majority government in 1986, Blakeney stepped down as NDP leader and retired from politics. Lingenfelter decided to run in the by-election to succeed Blakeney as MLA for
Regina Elphinstone; he was successful, and re-joined the legislature in 1988 under new NDP leader Roy Romanow. Lingenfelter again served as Opposition House Leader, and was Opposition Critic on privatization at a time when Devine's government was attempting to privatize a range of public assets. In 1989, the NDP staged a walk-out at the Legislature, successfully derailing the government's attempt to privatize
SaskEnergy. After being re-elected in the
1991 election, which resulted in a large NDP majority, Lingenfelter returned to cabinet when he was named Minister of Economic Development. During the 1990s, Lingenfelter also served as the Minister responsible for the Crown Investments Corporation and Minister of Agriculture, as well as Deputy Premier and Government House Leader. As deputy premier, Lingenfelter had long been viewed as a likely candidate to succeed Romanow. However, earlier in 2000, Lingenfelter announced that he would be resigning to pursue private sector opportunities, suggesting he would be taking work in the oil industry. Romanow described Lingenfelter's resignation as a "huge loss for me, for our party, for our government and for the people of our province." Two weeks after Calvert's announcement, Lingenfelter became the first declared candidate in the leadership race. He was joined in the race by former party president
Yens Pedersen, MLA
Deb Higgins, and doctor
Ryan Meili. Lingenfelter was considered the frontrunner, and by Spring 2009 had opened a wide lead in fundraising over his rivals ahead of the June 6 leadership election. However, Lingenfelter courted controversy when it was revealed that his campaign had signed up hundreds of new party members without their knowledge, and paid for 1,100 memberships. Lingenfelter blamed the issue on an "over exuberant" volunteer, while Pedersen called for him to quit the race. Lingenfelter stayed in the race, receiving a high number of caucus and union endorsements. On June 6, 2009, he was elected the new NDP leader, defeating Meili on the final ballot with 55% of the vote; the win made Lingenfelter the oldest leader in Saskatchewan NDP history. After the leadership vote, MLA
Harry Van Mulligen resigned his
Regina Douglas Park seat to allow Lingenfelter to run in a by-election there. Lingenfelter won the by-election on September 21. As Opposition leader in the legislature, Lingenfelter became known for having heated exchanges with Premier Wall.
2011 provincial election Lingenfelter led the NDP into the
2011 provincial election. Polls ahead of the election suggested that Wall's Saskatchewan Party was heavily favoured to form another majority government, and the results bore this out. On November 7, the NDP was reduced to just nine seats, its worst showing since 1982. Lingenfelter also became the first NDP leader to lose his own seat in an election, and he tendered his resignation on election night, effective immediately. Lingenfelter later admitted that he felt "rusty and made lots of mistakes" during the campaign, but also that despite putting forward a good platform he did not expect to defeat what was a relatively new and popular Wall government. After Lingenfelter's resignation, the NDP executive chose
John Nilson to serve as interim party leader until a new leader was chosen. In 2013, the party elected
Cam Broten as its new leader. == After politics ==