It was a jubilant night at the Townehouse Tavern on Thursday, where New Democrats gathered to celebrate Jamie West's win, becoming the first person to take the seat for the party in Sudbury since 1990.
West garnered 17,392 votes — almost 48.1 per cent — beating Tory candidate Troy Crowder, who received 8,392, and incumbent Liberal Glenn Thibeault, who got 8,113. Voter turnout in Sudbury was 54.93 per cent, according to unofficial results from Elections Ontario.
Except for Joe Cimino's brief stint as Sudbury's NDP MPP in 2014 (which only lasted a few months), West becomes the first NDP MPP for Sudbury since Sharon Murdock won the riding in 1990 when Bob Rae swept to power. He'll become a member of the Official Opposition, as the Tories took 76 seats to the NDP's 39. The Liberals took seven seats and the Green Party won their first ever seat in Ontario.
The excitement started early at the Townehouse on Thursday, with more and more orange shirts arriving as the clock neared 9 p.m., when the polls closed. West was declared the winner about 15 minutes later.
He took the stage around 9:30 p.m., thanking supporters, his campaign team and loved ones.
"Especially my wife and my three kids," West told the cheering crowd.
He also thanked all the candidates for running, and congratulated the winners across the province.
"It is very nerve-wracking to put your name and your family name forward and open yourself to criticism,” he said. “My hat's off to anybody who would take that bold step forward.
"I want to thank all the voters, even if they didn't vote for me. I think it's so important in democracy that you express what you believe in."
He said a lot of Ontarians voted NDP for this first time this election, and he said they were inspired by “Andrea Horwath and her vision.
"There was an energy in this campaign — and I've worked on campaigns for the last 10 years — I have not seen energy and excitement like this,” West said.
“The laughter, the early mornings and late nights, and the fun we had. Every single day was a lot of fun, even though it was hard work. It was fantastic."
While people were happy for West, some were concerned what the Tory majority under new Premier Doug Ford would mean for the province.
Longtime NDP volunteer Deborah Knuff said she was a teacher when Mike Harris was the Tory premier in the 1990s, and the spending cuts hurt.
"I am very concerned ... many people are expressing great concern,” Knuff said. “We lived through Mike Harris and that was devastating — particularly for any child who needed a little bit extra, all of that was cut.
"People have good cause to be very, very concerned because he didn't put out a plan, he didn't put out any costing with it, he seemed to be making it up as we went along. Really, we have no idea what he's actually going to do."
For his part, West said he plans to work hard to reward his supporters for their faith in him.
"I want you to know I'm not taking that for granted. I intend to work incredibly hard to move things forward," he said. "Every single vote for the NDP is recognizing that you want government that works for everybody and not just the elite and the wealthy."
