first “nobody” to flip a liberal riding in a byelection since 2008
the last two times that the liberals lost a seat in a byelection, they at least had the consolation of being defeated by star candidates. in a 2018 byelection in chicoutimi—le fjord, they were absolutely slaughtered by conservative candidate richard martel, a beloved local hockey coach.
and in 2010, the liberals lost the riding of vaughan to conservative candidate julian fantino, former commissioner of the ontario provincial police.
but monday night’s winner in toronto—st. paul’s was don stewart, a virtual unknown who used to work on bay street.
to find a similarly obscure candidate winning a riding from the liberals in a byelection, you have to go all the way back to 2008. that was the year when career rcmp officer rob clarke joined the conservative caucus by defeating a liberal in desnethé—missinippi—churchill river
omitting richard martel, it’s the best-ever conservative byelection gain over the liberals
the aforementioned chicoutimi hockey coach richard martel scored such a stunning byelection win in 2018 that he threw off all the usual electoral records. martel ran in a riding where the conservatives had scored a distant fourth place in the previous general election, and nevertheless clinched it with a commanding 52.76 per cent of the vote.