After being elected to the Legislature in
1956 at the age of 24, Thorson became the youngest member of
Tommy Douglas' Co-operative Commonwealth Federation government. Thorson was defeated by
Liberal challenger
Ian MacDougall when he ran for reelection in 1960. Following his defeat, Thorson returned to university to study law, then set up practice in
Estevan. Thorson returned to the provincial politics with the
Saskatchewan New Democratic Party in a 1971 by-election held following the death of
Russell Brown. Under
Allen Blakeney, Thorson served in the provincial cabinet as Minister of Industry. He was defeated by
Bob Larter when he ran for reelection in 1975 in the newly created constituency of
Estevan. == Personal life and death ==