Former MP Larry Bagnell wins Liberal nomination in Yukon
Bagnell to vie for seat in House of Commons in October 2015 federal election
Members of the Liberal Party in Yukon have elected their candidate for the next federal election.
Larry Bagnell was declared the winner Saturday night, after the first ballot count. He garnered more than 50 per cent of the 1,432 votes cast.
It was a record-high turnout for the Yukon Liberal Party, which now has more than 2,100 members, the most since 1997.
The surge in membership has a lot to do with this campaign race, which set up Bagnell, a former Yukon MP, against Ben Sanders, Tamara Goepell and Gurdeep Pandher.
Bagnell says for now, he plans to soak up his accomplishment, but says he's going to narrow in on the main prize in a couple of weeks.
"Go have some fun for a few weeks, enjoy this great momentum of liberalism, but then we have to come back and get our Canada back," Bagnell said.
Bagnell has his sights on winning back the seat Conservative Ryan Leef took from him in the last federal election in May 2011 when the Conservative Party won a majority government.
Leef has already won the Conservative nomination by acclamation, and will be running against Bagnell again.
There's still no word from the Yukon New Democrats or the Yukon Green Party on who will be representing their parties.