Aspiring actor, gay candidate among noteworthy winners

Nova Scotia’s election results saw a long list of memorable wins, but it's likely no one was more surprised with last night's results than Tony Ince. The Liberal defeated NDP Leader Darrell Dexter in Cole Harbour-Portland Valley.

Ince is a member of the Black Educators Association who works for the department of community services. He's also an aspiring actor.

He says he campaigned hard but didn't actually expect to unseat a premier.

"It would be arrogant for me to think anything else,” he said just after learning about his win. “I mean honestly, Mr. Dexter is a great man, he's done a lot of work, he's worked in the communities for years and I've seen him on several occasions, we spoke and he's a very nice person."

Unexpected role model

The election also saw one riding elect Nova Scotia’s first openly gay MLA.

Liberal candidate Joanne Bernard was elected last night in Dartmouth North.

“I’ve wanted to do this since I was eight years old and being a lesbian certainly wasn’t going to stop me,” Bernard said. She said she didn't enter the race with the intention of being a role model.

“I’m glad that I can be a role model for folks if need be, and that people can realize that staying in the closet is not something they need to do.”

She said she knocked on 9,000 doors during the month long campaign.

Bernard won the seat formerly held by Trevor Zinck. It’s an area that has been NDP for more than a decade.

But Bernard believes her story of being a single parent who struggled with finances struck a chord with people in the area.

New face

Nova Scotia’s youngest new MLA is Ben Jessome.

The 26-year-old has never held a fulltime job, but Tuesday night, the recreation graduate landed the position of representing Hammonds Plains-Lucasville.

“A lot of young people in Canada are really looking for a chance to really make a difference and I’m certainly one of those people,” said Jessome. “I hope that getting elected is going to inspire a number of young people to get involved.”

Jessome is the former student council president at Acadia. Jessome gave credit to his campaign manager who is a former student leader from Cape Breton University.