Global News has declared Liberal Wayne Long the winner in the riding of Saint John-Rothesay in New Brunswick with 37.1 per cent of the vote.
Long, who waited longer than expected this summer before being acclaimed the Liberal candidate after missing a party deadline, won with a 3.1 per cent margin.
In the summer, Long told Global News he was “ready to go to battle.” He won by an 18 per cent margin in 2015. Prior to that, the seat was held for eight years by the Conservatives, and for the eight years before that, the Liberals.
From 1984 through to 2000, the Conservatives held the seat.
Some had suggested the race might be a close one, with Long being forced to deal with Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau’s dip in popularity.
Long hasn’t been shy about criticizing his own party. In February, when news of the SNC-Lavalin scandal first broke in the Globe and Mail, Long wrote on Twitter that the allegations left him “deeply unsettled.” He also called for an investigation.
He beat out Conservative candidate Rodney Weston, who held the Saint John-Rothesay seat from 2008 through 2015.
Weston won 34 per cent of the vote. Other candidates running in the riding included the NDP’s Armand Cornier, who finished with 12.5 per cent of the vote; the Green party’s Ann McAllister, who finished with 10 per cent of the vote; People’s Party of Canada candidate Adam J. C. Salesse, who finished with 3.1 per cent of the vote; and independents Stuart Jamieson and Neville Barnett, who finished with 2.8 and 0.4 per cent of the vote, respectively.
Global News has projected that Justin Trudeau’s Liberals will form a minority government in parliament.
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