Voters in Windsor West have elected to return NDP incumbent Brian Masse to his sixth term as Member of Parliament.
Masse fought a hard battle against Liberal candidate Sandra Pupatello, but the unofficial results Monday night gave him 40.2 per cent of the vote to Pupatello's 36 per cent, with 229 of the 230 Windsor West polls reporting.
Conservative candidate Henry Lau, in his second try for the seat, polled 19.1 per cent. Quinn Hunt of the Green Party picked up 2.5 per cent, Darryl Burrell of the PPC got 1.8 per cent and Margaret Villamizar of the Marxist-Leninist Party 0.1 per cent.
Shortly after midnight, Masse arrived to the NDP headquarters at Windsor's Serbian Centre, shaking hands and embracing supporters. In his victory speech, he thanked his campaign team and vowed to continue the work on Parliament Hill regarding pharmacare, the border, and other issues important to Windsor West residents.
Masse told reporters after his speech that the campaign was his hardest yet, both professionally and personally, with the recent passing of his father. Pupatello also provided him with the biggest challenge of his parliamentary career.
"I can't control other factors other than the fact that we had to work hard to win every single vote, and to get our message out every single day," said Masse.
In her concession speech Monday night, Pupatello said she believes her supporters will hold Masse to a higher standard in the upcoming parliament.
"The expectations suddenly have risen through the roof for the local MP. So I think that alone will put him back on his heels a bit. Because now he is going to have to produce results that we believe we would have produced," said Pupatello.
The reelected Member of Parliament praised the work done over the past four years by his local NDP colleagues. Essex incumbent Tracey Ramsey and Windsor-Tecumseh incumbent Cheryl Hardcastle were both defeated in their election bid.
"We'll just have to work in different ways," said Masse. "I've been through this before. At times, there have been different representations that I've had to deal with, so that's what we'll have to do."
Masse said he is looking forward to the challenge of being in a Liberal minority government, pointing out that the NDP helped push through universal health care and a new Canadian flag while in minority governments. He has served in the seat since 2003.
Pupatello, no stranger to politics having earned her stripes as a provincial Liberal cabinet minister during the Dalton McGuinty years, conceded to Masse shortly before midnight Monday.
Voter turnout in Windsor West increased by double-digits this election. According to Elections Canada, Monday's unofficial turnout was 54.93 per cent, up from 40.6 per cent in 2015. This includes advanced voting but not those who registered on the day of the election.
---with files from Mark Brown and Maureen Revait
