Liberals’ Hepfner will be Hamilton Mountain MP, as NDP’s Allen conedes

Hamilton | Ontario | Latest News | Politics |

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Published September 22, 2021 at 10:02 pm

Photo courtesy Lisa Hepfner's Twitter acount

Lisa Hepfner will head to the House of Commons as a rookie MP whose campaign team was the only one in Hamilton that flipped a seat in Monday’s federal election.

The Liberal candidate, who was a longtime broadcast journalist at CHCH-TV, has been named the member of Parliament for the Hamilton Mountain riding. The New Democratic Party’s Malcolm Allen, who was vying to hold the seat for the party for a sixth consecutive election, conceded on Wednesday night.

“We have a tremendous opportunity starting today to deliver on the priorities of our community and I look forward to working to represent ALL constituents, to understand your issues and be your strong, vocal representative in Ottawa,” Hepfner said in a statement shared on social media.

Hepfner has a 749-vote lead with all 155 polls in the riding reported.

Allen, a former NDP MP in the Welland area, issued a statement shortly after 7 p.m. Wednesday stating he wished Hepfner luck “representing the hard-working people of our riding.”

Hepfner was not formally declared the winning candidate on Monday night, since more than 3,000 mail-in ballots still had to be counted. Elections Canada has stated mail-in ballots would not be counted until Tuesday.

There are nine federal ridings, among the 338, where a winner has yet to be declared.

Hepfner’s victory means that Hamilton’s five MPs will consist of three from the Liberals, who won the most seats on Monday and are expected to try to form a minority government in a hung Parliament. There will be one MP apiece from the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) and the NDP.

Labour Minister Filomena Tassi was handily re-elected in Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas. Liberal benchmate-to-be Chad Collins won a three-way race in Hamilton East—Stoney Creek.

Dan Muys of the CPC kept Flamborough—Glanbrook blue. Matthew Green, a rising star in the federal NDP, won a landslide victory for a second term representing Hamilton Centre.

Collins and Mays, like Hepfner, will be rookie MPs on Parliament Hill.

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