NDP Joel Harden elected in Ottawa Centre
Incumbent Liberal and current Attorney General Yasir Naqvi defeated
NDP candidate Joel Harden has defeated incumbent Liberal and current Attorney General Yasir Naqvi in Ottawa Centre.
With all polls counted, Harden has 46.1 per cent of the vote. Naqvi, his closest competitor, is well behind with 32.8 per cent of the vote.
Colleen McCleery, a management consultant running for the Progressive Conservatives, finished in third place with 16 per cent of the vote.
- Ontario Votes 2018 | Complete coverage
The Liberals have held Ottawa Centre since Bob Rae's NDP government was defeated in 1995, but with a strong history of New Democrat wins at the federal level and a high proportion of unionized employees, the party was hoping for an upset win.
Stretching over a wide swath of urban Ottawa, the riding is ethnically and economically diverse, including wealthy neighbourhoods, high-density rental housing, and commercial centres. The riding includes Westboro, Centretown, the Central Experimental Farm, Rideauview, Old Ottawa South and Old Ottawa East.
The other candidates in the riding were:
- Cherie Wong, running for the Green Party.
- Bruce A. Faulkner, for the Ontario Libertarian Party.
- Marc Adornato, running for the None of the Above party.
- James Sears, running for the CCP.
- Stuart Ryan, running for the Communist party.
With files from Elyse Skura