Nova Scotia Liberals win 2 byelections, lose Dartmouth South
Jean Laroche | CBC News | Posted: July 15, 2015 9:59 AM | Last Updated: July 15, 2015
Nova Scotia Liberals win 2 of 3 byelections, losing hard-fought Dartmouth South battle
Nova Scotia premier Stephen McNeil has two new caucus members after byelections results that saw his party pick up two Cape Breton seats, but lose a hard-fought battle in Dartmouth South.
New Democrat Marian Mancini won that seat by 81 votes, but the second place finisher, Liberal Tim Risessco, isn't quite ready to concede defeat.
"At the end of the day, I'm going to respect the voters' decision but I'd like to see the final count on Thursday," Rissesco said late Tuesday night, after an emotional poll by poll battle.
Election night results are considered unofficial until there's a tally of the vote counts. Ballots won't be recounted unless there's a need for a judicial recount.
The unease over the numbers stems from the fact each party had their candidate winning by a handful of votes as poll after poll came in.
Risessco won some polls, Mancini won others. For example, with 41 of 47 polls reporting Risessco was ahead by 28 votes. Later, with just four polls left, Mancini was ahead by just three votes.
A five-vote margin triggers an automatic recount.
Even after the final tally, Mancini could only muster a tentative victory speech.
"I don't know if there's going to be a recount. I don't know the details of that, but for right now I'm saying we won it," she told cheering New Democrats who gathered at a Dartmouth pub for the results.
NDP Leader Maureen MacDonald called it a bittersweet victory given the losses in Cape Breton. She praised new democrat candidates Madonna Doucette and Tammy Martin who both finished second.
"They were up against candidates that essentially have been running since the last election you know," she said.
"So the fact that the margin between our party and the Liberals in Cape Breton was where it's at actually gives us some encouragement that we're not that far out of the game even in Cape Breton."
In Cape Breton Centre, Liberal David Wilton won the seat by 522 votes. Derek Mombourquette took Sydney-Whitney Pier by a more comfortable 1,462-vote margin.
All three PC candidates had third place finishes.
The only independent candidate to run, Charlene Gagnon, garnered 490 votes in the Dartmouth South Race.
McNeil called the byelections on June 13 to fill vacancies created by two resignations and one death.
New Democrats Frank Corbett and Gordie Gosse both announced their retirements in April. Liberal Allan Rowe died in March for a brain aneurysm.