Ontario Votes 2018: Ottawa Centre

The Liberals have held Ottawa Centre since Bob Rae's NDPgovernment was defeated in 1995, but with a strong history of New Democrat wins at the federal level and a high proportion of unionized employees, that party is hoping for an upset win.

Stretching over a wide swath of urban Ottawa, the riding is ethnically and economically diverse, including wealthy neighbourhoods, high-density rental housing, and commercial centres.

The riding includes Westboro,Centretown, the Central Experimental Farm, Rideauview,Old Ottawa South and OldOttawa East.

• Scroll down for a closer look at who makes up the riding, orclick here.
• Here's what people in Ottawa Centre are concerned about this election.
• Who is running in eastern Ontario? Check out this riding map.

Incumbent YasirNaqvihas been in the seat since 2007, gaining votes in subsequent elections.In 2014, Naqvigarnered more than double the number of votes cast for the second-place NDPcandidate.

But people who live in theriding aren'tstrangers to unpredicted defeat.

Federal NDPupset

In the last federal election in 2015, Catherine McKenna won the riding for the Liberals, ending 11 years of NDPrepresentation. Analystshad declared it one of the New Democrats' safest seats.

The New Democrats are hoping to similarly harness a desire to change with their Ottawa Centre candidate Joel Harden, currently working withtheCanadian Federation of Students.

The Progressive Conservatives have historically been a distant third inOttawa Centre, but are hoping to buck that trend with candidate Colleen McCleery, a management consultant and one of 11 Ontario candidates appointed by PC Leader Doug Ford.

Cherie Wong, a young candidate who says she'd like to engage socially marginalized groups,is the Green Party candidate, Bruce A. Faulkner is on the ballot for the Ontario Libertarian Party,Marc Adornato is running for the None of the Above party, James Sears is runningfor the CCP and Stuart Ryan is running for the Communist party.

• Vote Compass | See how you fit in Ontario's political landscape
• Ontario Poll Tracker | The latest developments
• Ontario Votes 2018 | Complete coverage