NDP star candidate Wab Kinew has won the hotly contested riding of Fort Rouge defeating Manitoba Liberal leader Rana Bokhari.
Kinew, a broadcaster and rapper, faced criticism during his campaign and had to defend himself for the use of misogynistic and homophobic language in his rap lyrics he wrote years ago.
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He apologized for his lyrics and comments on social media several times including in his 2015 memoir “The Reason You Walk.”
This was Bokhari’s first election since becoming leader of the party in 2013.
“It was a tough game. We started from nothing, we grew that is for sure,” Bokhari told reporters Tuesday night. “We are going to continue working, and we are going to do what we can. We all knew this was going to be tough.”
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The 38-year-old former lawyer lost several candidates to Elections Manitoba’s vetting process and at times battled with the media.
Kinew also beat out against Progressive Conservative candidate Audrey Gordon and Green Party candidate Grant Sharp
The riding had no incumbent MLA after the departure of NDP cabinet minister Jennifer Howard, part of the ‘rebel five’ who spoke out against Greg Selinger.
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