Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Edmonton Strathcona Was A Squeeker

It was Jaffers toughest race ever. As I had predicted. And as I had said here it was a two way race. The Liberals were wiped out. Here strategic voting went to the NDP, with only the Liberal hard core voting for their candidate.It was down to a neck and neck between Linda Duncan and Rahim Jaffer. It was the best showing of the NDP ever. And for Jaffer it was his lowest vote count ever. For the Liberals they came in a very distant third. Which means next time....it's NDP time.

EDMONTON-STRATHCONA

xRahim Jaffer CON 20,965

Linda Duncan NDP 16,478

Andy Hladyshevsky LIB 8,948

Cameron Wakefield GRN 2,964

Michael Fedeyko PCP 582

Dave Dowling MP 438

Kevan Hunter ML 99

218 of 228 polls reporting


Jaffer, who had the closest race of the sitting MPs, said he was looking forward to returning to Ottawa, this time as part of a minority government.

"It's so exciting to be part of a government after 8 1/2 years of being in opposition," he said.

"It's a feeling that I would never have imagined, to be able to go and be there with a strong team of MPs representing almost every region of the country."

He also praised Duncan's efforts.

"It's the first time I've seen them come in second in this riding," he said.

New Democrats pinned their hopes for a local upset victory on Linda Duncan in Edmonton-Strathcona who went down to defeat at the hands of three-time MP Rahim Jaffer.

The mood at her party at the Arts Barns was sombre early in the night, but turned upbeat as about 300 people gathered to watch the results roll in.

The mood was more jubilant at Jaffer's victory party in a Calgary Trail night spot


The other race to watch was Edmonton East. And here again the opposition out voted Conservative incumbent Peter Goldring. That being said Goldring could be defeated next election through strategic voting with a strong candidate with name recognition willing to begin running earlier in the riding.

EDMONTON EAST

xPeter Goldring CON 25,086

Nicole Martel LIB 13,092

Arlene Chapman NDP 9,243

Trey Capnerhurst GRN 2,624

255 of 255 polls reporting

SEE Edmonton Strathcona

SEE Linda Duncan

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