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Niagara Falls
Monday, November 4, 2024
Election ’21: Tory Baldinelli re-elected in Niagara Falls riding, beats Kaiser by 3,500 votes

NDP third again as People's Party shows huge jump in support, Green vote slumps badly

 

The race for Niagara Falls riding was a tight battle for much of the night, but Conservative incumbent Tony Baldinelli managed to pull away and beat Liberal challenger Andrea Kaiser by about 3,500 votes.

With 244 of 245 polls reporting, Baldinelli had 25,920 votes, Kaiser 22,410, the NDP's Brian Barker had 12,414, Peter Taras of the People's Party of Canada polled 5,826 and the Green party's Melanie Holm had 1,343.

Baldinelli's win was his second straight defeat of Kaiser, whom he beat by just over 2,000 votes in 2019. Kaiser's and Barker's vote totals were almost identical to their 2019 results.

The People's Party, which attracted fewer than 1,000 votes in the last election, saw its support rise substantially. The Green party, which ran a very quiet campaign, polled about one-third as many votes as it received in 2019.

 

HOW THE RESULTS UNFOLDED

Results for the riding, which encompasses Niagara-on-the-Lake, Fort Erie and Niagara Falls, started to roll in around 10 p.m., a half-hour after polls closed.

Baldinelli showed an early lead.

The Conservative candidate showed up to his party at Spyce Lounge in Niagara Falls just after 10 p.m., by which point Kaiser had taken a small lead.

Shortly after that, news outlets started to declare a Liberal win across the country.

At 10:41 p.m., Liberals had 146 seats, claiming a minority government.

Locally at 10:42, 18.37 per cent of the vote had been tallied, with Baldinelli back in the lead (2,062 to the Liberals' 1,939).

At 11:07 p.m., nationally the Liberals had 155 seats with Conservatives at 121. Locally, Baldinelli's lead started to grow, with 6,076 votes for Baldinelli and 5,681 for Kaiser.

In Niagara-on-the-Lake, Baldinelli won both Glendale and St. Davids polling stations. Kaiser won the vote in Old Town, “by a lot,” said Baldinelli's campaign manager Bart Maves.

LOCAL UPDATES:

11:10: Conservative 6,230, Liberal 5,995

11:11: Conservative 6,416, Liberal 5,974

11:15: Conservative 6,745, Liberal 6,284

11:17: Conservative 7,021, Liberal 6,578

11:18: Conservative 7,778, Liberal 7,252

11:20: Conservative 8,451, Liberal 7,764

11:21: Conservative 8,855, Liberal 7,968

11:29: Conservative 9,635, Liberal 8,583

11:31: Conservative 10,103, Liberal 8,949

11:32: Conservative 10,455, Liberal 9,205

11:34: Conservative 10,556, Liberal 9,247

11:35: Conservative 11,138, Liberal 9,708 

11:40: Conservative 11,940, Liberal 10,403

11:43: Conservative 12,268, Liberal 10,676

11:45: Conservative 12,319, Liberal 10,733

11:48: Conservative 12,388, Liberal 10,776 (Niagara Now declares Tony Baldinelli the winner with 75.51 per cent of votes reported from 185 of 245 polling stations.)

11:53: Conservative 13,806, Liberal 12,083 (NDP: 7,753, PPC: 3,315; Green: 815)

11:55: Conservative 14,075, Liberal 12,410

11:58: Conservative 14,265, Liberal 12,572

12:01: Conservative 14,686, Liberal 13,011

12:03: Conservative 15,499, Liberal 13,539

12:05: Conservative 15,725, Liberal 13,738

12:13: Conservative 16,362, Liberal 14,320

12:16: Conservative 16,441, Liberal 14,400

9:51 a.m.: Conservative 25,920, Liberal 22,410

 

LAST ELECTION – 2019

Historically the Niagara Falls riding has been a battle between the Liberals and Conservatives, echoing the national stage.

In the 2019 election, Baldinelli won a narrow lead against Kaiser, securing 24,751 votes to Kaiser’s 22,690. Barker received 12,566 votes and the Green party, represented by Sandra O’Connor, took home 3,404 votes.

Last election also saw People’s Party of Canada candidate Alexander Taylor take 968 votes, independent Mike Strange with 4,997 votes and Trisha O’Connor take 358 votes for the Christian Heritage Party.

 

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