Mike Wallace blazed past his opponents Monday night, seizing the Burlington riding by a handy margin.
With more than three quarters of the poles counted, the Conservative incumbent had 54 per cent of the vote. Liberal challenger Alyssa Brierley had 23 per cent and NDP candidate David Laird sat at 19 per cent.
“I’m very proud to be Conservative in our great country of Canada,” an elated Wallace said from a podium in his Burlington headquarters to applause, hoots and whistles from an excited crowd. “It is our party and our leader that is here for Canada and I’m here for Burlington.”
Wallace led in every poll, followed closely by Laird and Brierley, who were neck and neck throughout the race.
Laird, a child protection worker with the Children’s Aid Society, glowed from sweat and excitement before the polls closed, pumped to receive the results in what was sure to become his most victorious election yet. With a majority of the polls in, he had 19 per cent of the vote.
Brierley, a lawyer, is a Phd candidate and newcomer on the political scene.
Her supporters gathered across town at a Jack Astors restaurant dotted with red and white balloons.
Wallace’s campaign manager had jokingly promised him a “15,000 vote spread” over the runner-up, following the math of previous wins: In 2008, he took the riding by 10,000 votes; in the race previous by a mere 2,500. In 2004, he lost by a similar margin.
And while he didn’t quite make that goal, the voters did not disappoint.
Wallace, who is most proud of his efforts to clean up toxic mud in Hamilton Harbour.
In the campaign, Brierley and Laird stressed that Burlington, a bedroom community in transition as immigrants and young families seek affordable housing, is a riding hungry for change.
Laird said constituents were concerned about Wallace’s voting record when it came to international issues. Brierley said voters were looking for someone “fresh, new, energetic” and “willing to hustle to get the job done.
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