WATCH ABOVE: NDP Leader Dominic Cardy resigns after failing to win a seat
New Brunswick NDP leader Dominic Cardy’s efforts to see a “fresh voice” in the legislature fell short on Monday night.
Cardy lost in the riding of Fredericton West-Hanwell to Progressive Conservative incumbent Brian Macdonald. Macdonald won with over 35 per cent of the vote (with 13 out of 14 polls reporting).
Following the loss, Cardy announced he was resigning as party leader.
The Liberals and Progress Conservatives battled it out in the polls leading up to election day, but the NDP was hoping to make inroads in the province.
Cardy argued that a fresh voice is needed in the province. He hoped that voters dissatisfied with the Liberals and PC would give the NDP a seat in the legislature. The party has never won more than one seat in New Brunswick and was shut out altogether in the 2010 election.
Cardy became party leader in 2011. He ran in the riding of Fredericton West-Hanwell. It’s a new riding, comprised of portions of Fredericton-Silverwood and York following last year’s redistribution of electoral boundaries.
In a 32-day campaign that focused largely on the divisive issue of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, and the shale gas sector, Cardy tread lightly. He promised a two-year moratorium on considering shale gas development, at which point companies looking to exploit the resource would have to undergo tests for health and environmental concerns.
WATCH: Fracking key role in New Brunswick provincial election
Polls closed at 8pm (click here for live election results).
At dissolution, the PC held 41 seats, the Liberals 13 and one Independent seat. Redistribution saw the total number of seats cut from 55 to 49 this election.
With files from The Canadian Press
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