Wayne Long Wins Re-Election In Saint John-Rothesay
SAINT JOHN – Liberal candidate Wayne Long has kept his seat in the riding of Saint John-Rothesay.
After a close race with Conservative Rodney Weston, Long won with more than 14,000 votes, or roughly 37 per cent. Weston received just over 13,000.
Talking to media Monday night, Long says he’s looking forward to getting back to Ottawa and showing his constituents what he can do for them.
“I’m going to be aggressive and I’m going to speak very very often and I’m going to speak very very loud on behalf of Saint John-Rothesay and continue to deliver things for a riding and especially for a city that deserves it,” he said.
Long says he has nothing but respect for Weston, and wishes him all the best. He says ultimately the race came down to their “style” of politics.
“Rodney Weston was the member of Parliament for Saint John for three different terms. I always felt that we needed a different style of representation, a louder style of representation—somebody that would go to Ottawa with a plan; not just to knock on doors, but kick down doors,” he said.
The Liberals will form a minority government after the federal election Tuesday night, with the party leading or elected in 156 seats.
Weston humbly admitted defeat Monday but says he’s looking forward to getting back to his normal job, and spending more time with family.
“It’s hard to feel bad, you know. I’ve had the opportunity to do these things, and like I said, it’s not the results you wanted but you recognize that going into it that you can lose,” he said.
Weston says despite his results tonight, he still feels positive about the Conservative’s performance in New Brunswick.
“I’m a firm believer of things happening for a reason,” he said to the crowd, getting slightly emotional as he thanks everyone for their support over the past 25 years.
“It’s not what we were working towards but you know that’s the point of elections, there’s going to be winners, there’s going to be losers, and tonight it just wasn’t in the cards for us. I think we made some progress. Obviously, when you look at the results from 2015 to 2019, the margin is a lot closer.”
Conservative Party candidates were victorious in neighbouring ridings.
With more than 20,000 votes, Rob Moore defeated incumbent Liberal Alaina Lockhart in Fundy Royal.
Moore, who was defeated by Lockhart in 2015, said he will be a strong proponent of affordability.
“It’s become harder and harder for families to make ends meet, for seniors to make ends meet,” said Moore. “We need to get back to taking less out of people’s pockets and leaving them more. That’s something I’m going to be a strong proponent of,” Moore said.
Moore believes unpopular Liberal energy policies contributed to his win.
“A lot of what the government was doing was very unpopular here. Whether it was Energy East pipeline or the carbon tax. People had their fill of Liberal policies.”
In New Brunswick Southwest, John Williamson defeated incumbent Karen Ludwig after losing to her in the 2015 election.
With most polls reporting, Williamson had nearly 19,000 votes while Ludwig had nearly 10,000.
“It’s part of disappointment in the Trudeau Liberals,” said Williamson about his victory, “but it’s always at the same time turning to new ideas that are gonna tackle some of the issues that I think until now have been overlooked.”
Danielle McCreadie is a reporter with CHSJ/Country 94, a Huddle content partner. With files from Brad Perry.