New Democrat Carol Hughes will remain Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing’s Member of Parliament.
She'll return to the House of Commons with another Liberal minority government in place and Justin Trudeau in charge as Prime Minister.
Tuesday morning following 12 hours of voting on election day, Elections Canada numbers gave Hughes the win at 15,272, nearly 5,000 votes more than her nearest rival, John Sagman Conservative at 10,893.
Duke Peltier Liberal collected 8.498 votes followed by Harry Jaaskelainen of the People’s Party of Canada with 2,854, Stephen Zimmermann of the Green Party with 702 votes, and Christian Heritage Party candidate Clarence Baarda with 269.
These results are not final since the counting of mail-in ballots did not begin until Tuesday and no final results will be issued before that's complete.
Sagman said he learned many lessons in the brief campaign.
"I mean, it's disappointing. From my perspective, I would have liked to have seen obviously a Conservative government and I've had a lot of concerns about the direction our country was going in," he told ElliotLakeToday.
"Very divisive with our economy and things like that and our First Nations. But the voters have decided how they want to proceed. So it's good.
"We have a democratic country and we're going to move forward and make it all successful.
"The voters are happy with our progress in highways. They're happy with Carol's progress to date in housing, the internet and supporting our mills.
"And pensioners are happy with their pensions. She's helping them to get through inflation. So the voters are never wrong," Sagman went on.
He said he enjoyed the brief experience of campaigning.
"I met a lot of people and our volunteers are fantastic.
"It was a brief campaign, very challenging and one big area to cover. But it was a lot of fun, too," Sagman concluded.
First Nations Chief Duke Peltier, the Liberal (LPC) candidate, spoke with ElliotLakeToday after the riding was decided.
"Well it's actually a great experience, the science behind these elections, databases, and ensuring that you target your voters.
"I think that having more time as an actual candidate would have been helpful, helpful for me.
"My team came together. Some of my close advisors and individuals that I've worked with over years came in to help, believing in my vision of creating change which is important not only for my own community but First Nations in general," concluded Peltier.
Hughes congratulated her rivals for their campaign efforts on Monday night.
“I’m also honoured to have shared the ballot with all the candidates who put their names forward," Hughes told us. "It isn’t always easy to stand for election and I respect the commitment of anyone who runs for office."
