Liberal candidate Irek Kusmierczyk gave NDP incumbent Cheryl Hardcastle the political fight of her life, but after all the votes were counted, he won.
"What a great night! Folks we did it! We did it," Kusmierczyk exclaimed to a still packed bar at 1:00 AM Tuesday.
Too close to call until the very last poll reported, Kusmierczyk won 33.4 per cent of the vote.
Hardcastle's final tally? Just 32.3 per cent.
All evening long, the results swung in favour of one candidate and then the other. Finally, with 253 polls reporting, just 642 votes separated the two results.
With a minority Liberal government behind him, Kusmierczyk said he is ready to represent the riding and bring investments to the region.
"I've worked with folks across the aisle on city council, it doesn't matter what the background is, that's something I like to do is work with people from different backgrounds, different people, different parties, different walks of life. If you've got a good idea, if you work hard, if you've got integrity I want to work with you," said Kusmierczyk.
According to the Elections Canada Act, a recount of a vote is automatically called if the difference between winning candidate and the runner-up is 0.1 per cent of the total vote.
Although the result is not close enough to warrant an automatic recount, it is possible one candidate may request it, but Hardcastle told reporters at Windsor's Serbian Centre early Tuesday morning that she likely will not.
"I really believe that the people of Windsor-Tecumseh deserve representation, a stability, and a transition very easily," said Hardcastle. "There is a lot of work that has to be done for people behind the scenes, and that's got to be taken care of number-one."
.@CHardcastleNDP has represented Windsor-Tecumseh since 2015, succeeding Joe Comartin. The riding has been in NDP hands since 2000. #sxont #yqg pic.twitter.com/xQCArvjDGl
— Blackburn News Essex (@BlackburnEssex) October 22, 2019
Conservative candidate Leo Demarce, who was identified in some polls as part of a three-way race for the riding, finished third with 27.9 per cent. He conceded late Monday night at his election night gathering at Johnny Shotz in Tecumseh.
Giovanni Abati of the Green Party polled 3.8 per cent, Dan Burr of the People's Party of Canada pulled in 2.3 per cent, and Laura Chesnik of the Marxist-Leninist Party 0.3 per cent.
Voter turnout in the riding was up from 2015, according to Elections Canada. This election's unofficial turnout was 59.48 per cent, which does not include voters who participated in same-day registration. Turnout four years ago in Windsor-Tecumseh was 46.9 per cent.
---with files from Maureen Revait and Mark Brown
