Conservative Dianne Watts elected in South Surrey-White Rock

Former Surrey mayor Dianne Watts notched a win for the Conservatives Monday in her first successful run at federal politics.

She beat Liberal Judy Higginbothamby a margin of 600 votes in a race that was much tighter than initially predicted.

Watts was brought into South Surrey-White Rock as a rock star candidate for the Conservatives.

She was Surrey's first female mayor when she was first elected in 2005 and was seen as virtually unbeatable when she stepped away from municipal politics last year.

Both the provincial Liberals and the Conservatives have courted her in the past.

The riding itself was seen as safe Tory territory: outgoing MP Russ Hiebert won by 20,000 votes in 2011.

But Higginbotham was also no stranger to politics or the region. She served on Surrey City council for a total of 25 years and ran three times unsuccessfully for the Liberals.

Close race for star candidate

Still, political watchers were shocked mid-campaign at polls which suggested the 55-year-old Watts might be in trouble.

Watts appeared to be in for an easy ride at the start of the campaign when the original Liberal candidate was forced to step down because of controversial Facebook comments.

But a Conservative tactic intended to help candidates like Watts gave an inadvertent boost to her opponents.

It came in the form of a mailout warning that Canadians wouldn't feel safe in their bedrooms with Thomas Mulcair or Justin Trudeau in charge because of terrorism.

Watts defended the ads, but critics called them fear-mongering. They also suggested that the tightly controlled campaign of the Tories meant Watts wasn't free to use her star power to her advantage.