The New Democratic Party has edged out the Saskatchewan Party in a political thriller that went down to the wire. The win means the party will extend its 12-year reign in the province.

The NDP is leading or elected with 30 seats. The Saskatchewan Party is close behind with 28 seats, while the Liberals have failed to win any seats.

NDP Premier Lorne Calvert handily won his riding of Saskatoon-Riversdale -- a constituency that was once represented by Roy Romanow.

His chief rival, Saskatchewan Party Leader Elwin Hermanson, has been declared a winner in his riding of Rosetown-Elrose, which is about 150 kilometres southwest of Saskatoon.

Liberal Leader David Karwacki, meanwhile, was trying to win his first seat in the 58-seat legislature but lost in Saskatoon Meewasin to the NDP's Frank Quennell. The young millionaire businessman spoke to his supporters shortly before a winner was declared in the tight race.

"The best thing about Saskatchewan is not just all the resources that we have -- the best thing about Saskatchewan is the people," Karwacki said as his wife and children looked on.

At dissolution, the NDP had 28 seats, the Saskatchewan party had 26 and the Liberals had one. There were three Independents.

One of the key issues in the campaign was the privatization of the big Crown utilities: SaskTel, SaskPower, SaskEnergy, and Saskatchewan government insurance.

Calvert had promised that if his party was elected for a fourth term, he would mandate the Crown to provide customers with the lowest utility-rate packages in the country.

The Saskatchewan Party had promised not to sell off the four major Crown corporations, but said it would restrict some of their operations.

Other concerns targeted the province's faltering economy and a population that is shrinking as young people move away to such cities as Calgary.

Such high-profile NDP candidates as Agriculture Minister Clay Serby, Justice Minister Eric Cline and Speaker Myron Kowalsky were all re-elected. Finance Minister Jim Melenchuk went down to defeat along with Ron Osika, the government relations minister.

The Saskatchewan election was the last of eight provincial votes to be held across the country this year and voter turnout was described as steady.

Much of the campaigning by all three parties was focused on the 12 seats in Saskatoon, a city with a swinging electorate, re-adjusted riding boundaries and two races without incumbents.

The Saskatchewan Party, which was formed six years ago out of an alliance of disgruntled Liberals and vanquished Tories, swept the rural ridings in the 1999 election.

This year, the party rolled out its "Win Saskatoon" campaign in the hope of breaking ground in urban areas.

Calvert tried to rally support in the rural areas as election day approached. His campaign took a bad turn early on when an NDP cartoon depicted the leader of the Saskatchewan Party as a Nazi guard loading people onto railcars.

Calvert fired highways department employee Dave Degenstien for his involvement with the cartoon. The man who drew the cartoon, Carlo Binda, and an NDP communications strategist, resigned.