Tories win again in Cumberland South
Cumberland South is staying Tory blue.
Oxford fire chief and minor hockey coach Tory Rushton rolled to victory in a byelection Tuesday night, holding the seat for the Progressive Conservatives.
“I’m very humbled that the voters of Cumberland South have given me this mandate and I look forward to getting to work tomorrow,” said the 38-year-old Oxford native. “I didn’t take anything for granted and neither did the campaign team. We knew it was going to be a hard battle. I don’t think we ever sat back and said this was going to be easy. We took every day as a challenge and worked hard to get the vote out.”
Rushton replaces former party leader Jamie Baillie, who stepped aside in January amid allegations of misconduct.
Rushton doesn’t feel being in opposition will hinder his ability to represent the riding.
Final vote totals were not available at press time.
Liberal Scott Lockhart called Rushton shortly after 9 p.m. to congratulate him.
“I knocked on more than 3,000 doors and saw a lot of anti-government sentiment … but I will continue to defend Stephen McNeil,” Lockhart said. “I am disappointed with the result and for the team that worked so hard for me. I gave it everything I had.”
Also running were former teacher and journalist Larry Duchesne for the New Democrats and Bruce McCulloch from the Green Party.
The riding, created in 1993 from the former ridings of Cumberland Centre and Cumberland West, has been a strong PC seat dating back to former cabinet minister Murray Scott’s election in 1998.
“I knocked on more than 3,000 doors and saw a lot of anti-government sentiment … but I will continue to defend Stephen McNeil. I am disappointed with the result and for the team that worked so hard for me. I gave it everything I had.”
Candidate Scott Lockhart
Cumberland South is a mostly rural riding occupying most of Cumberland County and includes the town of Oxford and former towns of Parrsboro and Springhill.
Health care and the frequent closure of emergency rooms at hospitals in Springhill and Parrsboro were the biggest issue of the campaign while roads, including the continued tolling of the Cobequid Pass, were also big on the minds of voters.
In last May’s general election, Baillie claimed just over 51 per cent of the vote to defeat Liberal Kenny John Jackson while in 2013 he also picked up 51 per cent of the vote to hold the seat. Baillie was first elected in a 2010 byelection to replace Scott, who stepped aside to create a spot for the party leader to run.