NDP’s Rakocevic defeats Liberal

Three is a charm for the NDP candidate in this riding that had been held by the Liberals for almost two decades.

After two previous defeats in the races in Humber RiverBlack Creek riding, formerly known kk as York West, Tom Ra- k kocevic snagged the seat for the New Democrats on Thursday, defeating Liberals’ Deanna Sgro and PC’s Cyma Musarat in a tight three- way race.

Awin for Rakocevic was sweet after his two previous defeats in the same riding.

The riding, used to be known as York West, had been a Liberal stronghold since 1999 when Mario Sergio snagged it from the Progressive Conservatives.

Despite the growing support for ff the New Democrats in the last two elections, the Liberals were ww hardly challenged, with t the PC being a distant third.

With Sergio not seeking reelection and the rising blue tide led by PC leader Doug Ford, the riding became an open race for all three political parties.

Situated in the northwest of the tt city, the riding has a large immigrant and working class population.

In the 2014 provincial election, it had one of the lowest turnouts in the province; only 42.4 per cent of qualified voters cast their ballots.

Sgro, a corporate lawyer and daughter of federal Liberal MP Judy JJ Sgro, campaigned on in- v vestment in local transit, a $ 15 hourly minimum wage, free drug coverage for children and youth, yy and access to free tuition f for college and university stu- dents.