Miramichi-Grand Lake winner projected to be Conservative Jake Stewart
After a night of back and forth leads between the Liberal and Conservative candidates, the CBC decision desk is projecting Jake Stewart to be the winner of Miramichi-Grand Lake.
Liberal candidate Lisa Harris started out ahead Monday night, then Conservative Stewart built a sizeable lead —reaching 1,700 votes — then saw it drop significantly again.
But a little after 1 a.m. Tuesday, the CBC decision desk projected Stewart to be the winner.
Harris had already conceded to Stewart a short while before that, after visiting his headquarters and shaking his hand.
"Personally, I'm OK, I'm fine, and I know I did everything I could," she said in an interview.
In 2019, the election was decided by 370 votes.
About 1,500 mail-in ballot won't be counted until later on Tuesday. Stewart had a 1,000-vote lead when Harris conceded.
Stewart said his opposition experience as an MLA will serve him well in Ottawa.
"I got really good at that and I really put a lot of time and effort into it when I was a critic," he said. "So I if I'm in opposition, it will not change the way that I do my job."
A race between Liberal, Conservative career politicians
Outgoing Liberal MP Pat Finnigan was watching the results at the Black Horse Tavern and remembering the nail-biting race in 2019, where he was convinced until the last minute that he had lost.
"It was seesaw all night long," he said. "And I think we probably could expect the same, I assume, tonight."
Finnigan didn't run for re-election. Former Liberal provincial cabinet minister, and MLA Harris hoped to keep the seat Liberal.
Stewart has also been serving in the New Brunswick legislature and is a former cabinet minister.
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau's first campaign stop in the Maritimes was in Miramichi last month.
Patricia Deitch is the Green Party candidate. The NDP candidate is Bruce Potter and the People's Party of Canada candidate is Ron Nowlan.
