Liberal Churence Rogers wins Bonavista-Burin-Trinity byelection

Bonavista-Burin-Trinity will stay red, with Churence Rogers projected winning the riding for the federal Liberals.

"It feels fantastic," said Rogers late Monday evening after a majority of poll results gave him nearly 70 per cent of the vote. "We worked hard for this as a team, and the team delivered on my behalf, and I'm delighted."

Monday's preliminary results had Rogers winning with 69.2 per cent of the vote (8,717 votes), followed by Mike Windsor of the Conservatives (2,878 votes, 22.9 per cent) and Tyler Downey of the NDP (598 votes, 4.7 per cent).

Libertarian Shane Stapleton earned 262 votes (2.1 per cent), while the Green Party's Tyler Colbourne won 138 votes (1.1 per cent).

Fewer than one-quarter of eligible voters marked a ballot, with a turnout of 21.43 per cent.

Rogers is the former president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Municipalities.

The riding was vacated when Judy Foote — who won in a landslide during the 2015 federal election — retired in September.

Will head to Ottawa mid-week

Rogers said he spoke to Foote earlier Monday.

"She was in touch today and offered me best wishes, and wished me all the best for the election today, and offered any future advice I might need, to stay in touch," he said.

He said he plans to head to Ottawa mid-week and begin discussions about staffing and his office soon.

"This position is going to be a major challenge for me, obviously, but my experience as mayor, and member of Municipalities of Newfoundland and Labrador … I think I have a good appreciation of the challenges facing Newfoundland and Labrador, and my job is to consult with community leaders and talk to people about issues and then try to find solutions or help them find solutions to some of their challenges."