Richard Perchotte won’t run again after 1 term as Selkirk MLA | CBC News
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Richard Perchotte will be a one-term MLA.
The Progressive Conservative announced on Facebook Thursday he won’t seek re-election in the Selkirk constituency during Manitoba’s next provincial election, which must be called on or before Oct. 5, 2027.
Perchotte said it’s been a privilege to serve in elected office, but after reflection and conversation with his family and loved ones, he decided “politics is not the best fit for me.”
His Facebook statement says he has “great respect and regard” for his PC colleagues and believes “in the common-sense conservative principles that bind us together.”
But “I feel, at this time, I am able to accomplish more as a private citizen and community member than as a member of Manitoba’s Official Opposition,” he wrote.
Perchotte was elected in 2023 with 52.5 per cent of the vote, surpassing the NDP candidate by 470 votes.
He succeeded Alan Lagimodiere, the Progressive Conservative who served as Selkirk’s representative from 2016 until 2023.
Perchotte currently serves as the Tory critic for public service delivery. He was previously the party’s advanced education critic.
In his Facebook post, he thanked his family and friends who have supported him before and during his political career, and “who will be there for the next chapter.”
“Sometimes in life we take big swings. Sometimes it works out. Sometimes it doesn’t,” he wrote, but said “it is always a worthwhile endeavour” when done in the service of others.
Other Tories have already announced they won’t seek re-election: Steinbach MLA Kelvin Goertzen, Springfield-Ritchot MLA Ron Schuler and Turtle Mountain Doyle Piwniuk.