United Conservative Party candidate Devin Dreeshen was elected to become the next MLA for Innisfail-Sylvan Lake on Thursday night, winning just under 82 per cent of the vote.

The NDP’s Nicole Mooney was a distant second, winning nine per cent. She was followed by the Alberta Party’s Abigail Douglass, with 7.4 per cent.

Both Liberal Party candidate Nick Jansen and independent David Inscho finished below one per cent of the vote.

“It sends a clear message Albertans reject the failed economic policies of the NDP and they want a government that will stand up and fight for this province against all of those that are attacking us,” said UCP leader Jason Kenney, who arrived with Dreeshen to The Hideout in Gasoline Alley, where they were greeted by supporters.

In an emailed statement from Nicole Mooney, the NDP candidate said she was looking forward to spending the summer with her family. Mooney works as a teacher at St. Joseph High School in Red Deer.

"I want to congratulate Devin Dreeshen on his win last night. I wish him all the best representing the families of Innisfail Sylvan Lake," Mooney said.

"I’m really proud of what we built here and am so grateful to my volunteers for all their hard work. Our campaign was about the things that matter to Innisfail-Sylvan Lake families like healthcare, education and good family supporting jobs. Thank you to everyone who voted for me."

The byelection was held because former UCP MLA Don McIntyre had resigned after being charged with sexual assault and sexual interference.

Dreeshen, 30, said the three main concerns he heard on the campaign trail were the carbon tax, energy sector and rural crime.

Elsewhere in the province, UCP candidate Laila Goodridge was victorious in the byelection for Fort McMurray-Conklin, the seat of former Wildrose Party leader Brian Jean.

Dreeshen addresses the Trump connection

UCP leader Jason Kenney enters The Hideout after candidate Devin Dreeshen was declared winner of the Innisfail-Sylvan Lake riding.

Dreeshen's past as a campaigner for Donald Trump during the 2016 U.S. presidential election has recently become a point of interest, after a column he co-authored about the experience for The Hill Times, resurfaced.

A photo that has been circulated shows the 30 year old raising a cup while sporting the Trump campaign’s signature “Make America Great Again” cap.

Last night, he spoke about the subject with reporters for the first time.

“When I was down there, I wasn’t picking a particular candidate. It was just to see how the American system worked. To me, the fact that he is the President of the United States and I have made great contacts there, I think it’s just a huge benefit for us,” Dreeshen said.

“That’s Canada’s biggest trading partner and having done numerous trade missions around the world while I was working in the Canadian government for the minister of agriculture, promoted market access and gained lots of market access around the world for Canadian agricultural products.

“I believe all of these contacts that I made down there is just going to be a benefit to us and the Alberta government and ultimately Alberta farmers.”

It was Kenney who first framed Dreeshen’s connections to Trump as an advantage.

“I’ve been clear about my own views of Donald Trump as a politician. But he’s the President of the United States. And we’re all going to pull together as Canadians to defend our economy from American protectionism,” Kenney said.

“I think it’s actually probably helpful for Alberta to have an MLA who has contacts in the American administration.”

Voter turnout in Innisfail-Sylvan Lake was down from the 2015 general election.

Just under 10,000 ballots were cast, compared to 18,000 three years ago.

Dreeshen outperformed the combined Wildrose-PC vote, which was 70 per cent in 2015.

Meanwhile, the NDP vote was at 23 per cent when the party had Patricia Norman as its candidate.

The Alberta Party made incremental gains this campaign, from 6.2 per cent last election.

Kenney said Dreeshen would play a role in the party’s shadow cabinet.

“Devin has tremendous expertise in agricultural policy. He’s a fifth-generation Alberta farmer who was a senior policy advisor for several years to the federal Agriculture Minister and travelled around the world getting market access for Canadian products,” he said.