Ontario Votes 2018: Thunder Bay-Atikokan turns orange after tight race
NDP's Judith Monteith-Farrell defeats Liberal incumbent Bill Mauro by 81 votes
After a nail-biter of a race, the Thunder Bay-Atikokan riding will have a new representative in Queen's Park.
The NDP's Judith Monteith-Farrell came out on top in the riding during Thursday's Ontario election, beating Liberal incumbent Bill Mauro by 81 votes, according to the unofficial results posted by Elections Ontario.
"I'm feeling very happy and excited," Monteith-Farrell told CBC News Thursday. "We'll be a very strong opposition to (Ontario Premier Doug Ford)."
It was a tightly-contested race, with the lead switching between the NDP and Liberals several times throughout the evening.
In some cases, the lead was a single-digit difference and toward the end of the race, with three polls left to report, Mauro led by three votes.
When the next poll reported, Monteith-Farrell had retaken a nine-vote lead.
With 72 of 73 polls reporting, her lead had fallen to just five votes.
Then, at 11:41 p.m., the final poll results came in and Monteith-Farrell ended the night with an 81 vote lead over Mauro.
'Today was their turn'
The totals were 11,793 votes for Monteith-Farrell, and 11,712 for Mauro.
"I congratulate Judith and the NDP," Mauro said Thursday. "We've had other battles in the past, today was their turn. I wish her well."
"Thunder Bay-Atikokan is really in a good place relative to where we were in 2003," he said, referring to when he was first elected. "I take great pride in that, and hopefully we can continue to make the community a better place."
The two had separated themselves from the rest of the riding's pack as the night went on. PC candidate Brandon Postuma ended the night with 7,552 votes, landing him in third place.
The Green Party of Ontario's John Northey ended in fourth with 880 votes.
David Bruno of the Northern Ontario party placed fifth, with 469 votes, and Libertarian Dorothy Snell rounded out the pack with 119 votes on the night.
Voter turnout in the riding was 55.46 per cent according to the unofficial results posted by Elections Ontario.