2015 federal election

Kram ran as the Conservative Party of Canada candidate in the constituency of Regina—Wascana in the 2015 Canadian federal election. He was defeated by incumbent long-time Liberal MP Ralph Goodale. While Kram was defeated by a margin of over 10,600 votes, his absolute vote was comparable to the results of Conservative candidates from the previous five elections. Conversely, the NDP and Green votes were lower than in previous elections, suggesting that the Liberal campaign had benefited from strategic voting.^[6][7]

2019 federal election

Kram (left) campaigning in Regina with Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer (right) in the run-up to the 2019 election.

Kram ran again as the Conservative candidate for Regina—Wascana in the 2019 federal election. He defeated the incumbent Goodale by a margin of over 7,000 votes, capturing 49.3 per cent of the popular vote.^[2]

Due to Goodale's long incumbency, Kram was widely predicted to lose throughout the campaign. On September 18, 2019, University of Regina political studies professor Jim Farney said, "I would guess that the race is going to be closer than it was last time, but that kind of name recognition — the 30 years of networking in public service — is probably going to see another Goodale victory," he said.^[8]

On October 17, 2019, The Western Producer predicted that Goodale would hold onto his seat, as did The National.^[9][10]

The Election Prediction Project maintained Goodale as their prediction throughout the campaign.^[11]

On October 3, 2019, a Hill & Knowlton/Advanced Symbolics Inc. artificial intelligence poll predicted a Goodale win, albeit by a reduced margin.^[12]

Member of Parliament

Kram was sworn in as a Member of Parliament on November 12, 2019. Party leader Andrew Scheer, who represents neighbouring Regina—Qu'Appelle in the House, subsequently appointed him to the Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on International Trade and named Deputy Critic for International Trade for the Conservative Opposition caucus.^[3]

In September 2020, Erin O'Toole, who had succeeded Scheer as leader of the Conservative Party the previous month, reassigned Kram to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities.^[13] Since his appointment to this committee, Kram has become vocal regarding pandemic assistance for airports, especially his local airport in Regina, Saskatchewan.^[14][15][16]

In December, 2021, O'Toole named Kram Vice-Chair of the Industry and Technology Committee ^[17] During this time, Kram advocated on behalf of the Canadian Institute of Public Safety Research and Treatment and other research projects at the University of Regina. ^[18]

Following the Conservative leadership race of 2022, newly-elected Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre reassigned Kram to the Public Accounts committee. ^[19] Early in his tenure on this committee, Kram uncovered that several federal government departments had been defrauded by their own employees who had claimed the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit while still working full time. ^[20]

l-r, Green Party candidate Victor Lau, Liberal candidate Sean McEachern and CPC candidate Michael Kram at Access-7 Regina-Wascana debate

2021 federal election

Kram ran for re-election as the Conservative candidate for Regina-Wascana in the 2021 federal election. His primary challenger was Liberal Sean McEachern, former chief of staff and campaign manager to former MP Ralph Goodale. McEachern highlighted his connection to Goodale frequently in the media in an effort to capture nostalgia for the former MP.^[21]

As in 2019 election campaign, Kram's re-election was regarded skeptically by local media who identified Regina-Wascana as a "riding to watch" for a potential loss by the Conservatives.^[22] The polling aggregator site 338Canada.com projected the constituency as a "toss up" through much of the campaign.^[23]

In the final result, Kram won by nearly double the Liberal vote and increased his share of the popular vote in spite of the right-wing competitor People's Party more than tripling its support.

Regina—Wascana