REGINA -- Saskatchewan Party candidate and advanced education minister Tina Beaudry-Mellor has conceded defeat following a tight race with the NDP’s Aleana Young.

The concession comes after Elections Saskatchewan reported on Thursday afternoon that Young is now leading the constituency.

“The good people of Regina University have chosen and I would like to congratulate Aleana Young on both of her deliveries,” Beaudry-Mellor said in a Facebook post. “I am looking forward to supporting your business.”

Young is leading the Regina University constituency by 224 votes over the Sask Party, according to Elections Saskatchewan numbers.

As of Thursday afternoon, Young received 3,255 votes to Beaudry-Mellor’s 3,029. There were 1,814 mail-in ballots issued in the constituency, and 1,370 have been counted.

There are 15 scrutineers from each party present at the vote count who sign an oath of secrecy at the start of the day.

The final vote count will take place on Nov. 7

Beaudry-Mellor thanked her supporters and reflected on her time in the legislature.

“I worked with two Premiers and can call them friends. I faced protests and did tough scrums,” she wrote. “I stayed up many nights worrying about governing in a pandemic. I’ve travelled every corner of the province and had to learn about and debate issues ranging from agriculture to health care to budgets”

Beaudry-Mellor told people to be kind, saying she wished more people knew about those who serve their communities.

“Maybe then people would be less hostile and quick to dole out daggers from their keyboards,” she said. “It is relentless and cruel. Is it any wonder why good people don’t want to run for office?  This is an honourable role with honourable people in it on both sides of the Assembly.”

She said there is lots of opportunity for Saskatchewan in the future.

“We can triple the tech sector. We will make and produce a vaccine for COVID. We will grow our population, entrepreneurialism will continue to thrive and we will be a leader in Ag-Tech,” she said. “We will lead post-secondary education into this new world of work. And our kids will stay here, build a family here, and give back to this province because our best days are always ahead of us.”

Beaudry-Mellor said she plans to spend time with family before deciding what’s next.