Liberals keep hold of OttawaVanier with convincing win

Residents in OttawaVanier stoodby the Liberals yet again, with candidate Nathalie Des Rosiersscoring a clear and decisive victory in Thursday night's byelection.

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OttawaVanierheadedto the polls Thursday in a provincialbyelectionseen as a referendum on the party's performance in the province.

But with all265 polls reporting, DesRosiershad 48.56 per cent of the popular voteand 5,655 votes more than her nearest competitor, Progressive ConservativeAndrMarin.

Des Rosiers thanked longtime MPP Madeleine Meilleur, who was at her celebration and whose retirement in July triggered the byelection.

"I have huge, big,red shoes to fill, but I have been inspired by the work Madeleine has done and I promise to try to do my best to replace her," said Des Rosiers.

Kathleen Wynne said Des Rosiers, the University of Ottawa's law school dean, would fight in Queen's Park for equality for women, child care and a fair and inclusive society.

Progressive Conservatives disappointed

PC MPP Lisa MacLeod was supporting Marin tonight and was optimistic until the results arrived.

"It was a big machine, a tall order, but I think we can hold our head high," said McLeod.

The urban riding, which is made up of a range of communitiesincluding the ByWard Market, Sandy Hill, Overbrook and parts of Gloucester, hadelected a Liberal in 13 straight previous elections dating back to 1971.

You can review our live blog as the election results came in.

11 candidates ran

There were 11candidates running inOttawaVanier.

Candidates included:

• ClaudeBisson, New Democratic Party of Ontario.
• Kevin Clarke, The Peoples Political Party.
• Elizabeth deVielCastel, Stop the New Sex-Ed Agenda.
• Nathalie DesRosiers, Ontario Liberal Party.
• Dean T. Harris, Ontario Libertarian Party.
• AndrMarin, Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario.
• StephanieMcEvoy, Canadian Constituents' Party.
• DavidMcGruer, Freedom Party of Ontario.
• RaphalMorin, Green Party of Ontario.
• JohnTurmel, Pauper Party of Ontario.
• AboveZnoneofthe, None of the Above Party.