BELLEVILLE – Bay of Quinte MP-elect Neil Ellis greets supporters at the Empire Theatre after his victory was announced. Photo by QNet News
By Emma Persaud
BELLEVILLE – The Liberal candidates for the Quinte area won all three ridings in Monday night’s federal election.
The tightest race was in Hastings-Lennox and Addington between Mike Bossio of the Liberal party and the Conservative party’s Daryl Kramp. Bossio was declared winner by just under 400 votes.
A tearful Liberal Kim Rudd won Northumberland-Peterborough South with 41 per cent of the vote, winning the riding over Conservative Adam Moulton.
Neil Ellis quickly took the lead in the Bay of Quinte Riding. He beat out the other candidates with 50.6 per cent of the vote.
The local results mirrored the national scene as the Liberals ended the night with a majority government. Liberal leader Justin Trudeau spoke to his multitude of supporters and the country about the other parties.
“Conservatives are not our enemies,” he said. “They are our neighbours.”
To the New Democratic Party he offered support and encouragement. “I understand your disappointment tonight. Our party had some difficult times, so don’t be discouraged.”
He attributed his party’s win to its ability to listen to Canadians across the country and that their concerns are what inspired the party to fight for victory.
“You are the reason we worked so hard to be here tonight and you will be at the heart of this new government.”
Hastings-Lennox and Addington was one of the final ridings in Canada to declare a winner with Liberal candidate Bossio getting the win with just over 300 votes separating him from Conservative Kramp.
The riding bounced back and forth throughout the night with no clear lead between the two candidates. It was not until the final poll was tallied that a winner was made clear.
Green party candidate Cam Mather and the New Democratic Party’s Betty Bannon, ended far behind the leaders with under 15 per cent each.
This area has been considered Conservative throughout the years with Kramp holding the riding since 2004. But Liberal leader Justin Trudeau visited the riding on Thanksgiving Monday, drawing a crowd of several hundred in Napanee.
The visit to the rural riding suggested that the Liberals felt there was a possibility of victory. The feeling paid off in the end with their candidate sliding into his seat after more than 10 years of a Conservative MP.
On his loss, Kramp said, “I just hope that the winning candidate cares as much about Canada as I do, which I’m sure he does, and that he works as hard as I would.”
Ellis won the riding by more than 9,000 votes. Conservative Jodie Jenkins followed behind with 34 per cent of the vote.
Terry Cassidy of the NDP got 12 per cent of the vote. Green candidate Rachel Nelems and independent candidate Trueman Tuck lagged far behind with two per cent voting for Green and 0.6 per cent voting for Tuck.
Jenkins has not let the results affect his view of his campaign. “We didn’t do anything wrong during this campaign,” he told QNet News. “We are bigger than election results.”
Cassidy said he thinks one of the reasons he lost is because of strategic voting: “Sometimes the right thing to do is the hard thing to do,” he said.
Ellis said this win isn’t only for himself. “Having a win this big speaks volumes to not only my team, but also my peers,” he said.
The race in Bay of Quinte was considered to be a tight one between Jenkins and Ellis. While the area has consistently supported Conservative candidates, Ellis came to this election after being the mayor of Belleville for eight years.
Northumberland-Peterborough South
Rudd won the riding over Moulton as the night progressed, leading by just over 900 votes.
At her election party in Port Hope she has already declared her victory. She thanked her supporters and the other candidates running for their sacrifice to take part in this campaign.
For Rudd, the only person missing was her mother. “There’s only one person missing tonight,” she said, tearfully. “My mother is the only person who couldn’t be here tonight.”
Rudd told QNet News that the first thing she will be doing is to write thank-you cards to everyone who helped her achieve this victory.
“This election has been a triumph of hope over fear, of passion over prejudice, of Canadians saying no to divide and conquer politics.”
While Moulton gave his congratulations to Rudd, he refused to speak with QNet reporter Corey Jacobs about his loss.
Russ Christianson for the NDP and Patricia Sinott for the Green party fell back early in the polls with Christianson in front, but not close enough to the leaders to make a mark.
Stay tuned to QNet News throughout the night and share your thoughts at @EPersaud_QNet.
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