Next steps for Alanna Koch unclear after coming in 2nd in Sask. Party leadership race

Where second place finisher and longtime civil servant Alanna Koch goes after losing the Saskatchewan Party leadership race is an unknown. 

Speaking after her fifth ballot defeat to Scott Moe in Saskatoon on Saturday, Koch, who served as deputy minister to Brad Wall and deputy minister of agriculture before that, wouldn't commit to running in future elections. 

"You know, I just ran a really awesome leadership race and you know what I'm focused on is being involved in the future of the party, but it's too soon for me to say what I'm going to do next."

Koch stepped away, but did not resign from her post as deputy minister to the premier in order to enter the leadership race. 

Asked is she would return to that job, if asked by the new leader, Koch didn't commit.

"You know what, it's too soon for me to comment. I just came through the leadership race. I've got to give some things some thought and we'll go from there."

Koch was first after three ballots, holding a narrow lead over Moe until the fourth round, when he took the lead following the elimination of Gord Wyant. 

"I guess I just didn't get enough people to vote for me, I mean it's as simple as that.  I know I ran a great campaign, I had a fantastic team. No regrets," she said Saturday. 

Third place finisher, Ken Cheveldayoff, also expressed disappointment in his loss. Some of his supporters left out audible gasps when they saw his name appear third in the first round. 

"I think we'll reevaluate that and see if there's anything that we could have done better," he said after the fourth ballot, where he was knocked out. 

"But you know we started today saying, hey, we've done all that we could, we've door-knocked on more doors that anybody in this campaign, I believe."

He pledged to work with the new premier and said he would continue to advocate for campaign points like better Internet access to rural residents and removing the PST from insurance. 

Wyant ended the race in the fourth spot after starting out with 21 per cent of first choice ballot votes.

"I sense that our message has resonated with a lot of people in Saskatchewan. We're pleased to see a lot of the other candidates talking about some of the issues, which I thought were very very important to the people of Saskatchewan."

He committed to both working with the premier and running in the 2020 election, as did fifth place finisher Tina Beaudry-Mellor. 

Wyant said he would continue to push the leader to deal with mental health and addictions, as well as education. 

Beaudry-Mellor, who only secured 226 first choice votes and was eliminated in the second round, said she is interested to know how many times her name appeared in second, or third, choice spots. 

"We also ran with a team that was all brand new to politics quite deliberately, and I feel really good about that," she said of her campaign.