Liberal Gould holds off challengers in Burlington
Karina Gould has been re-elected by a hefty margin in Burlington.
Gould, the Liberal incumbent, had the riding in hand before midnight Tuesday. She had earned 45 per cent of the vote with all but one of 244 polls reporting, and held a 4,700-vote lead over her closest rival — Conservative candidate Emily Brown.
“I’m going on less than three hours of sleep right now after a really intense 36-day period. I’m still buzzing with energy and I’m feeling just so elated and excited about what the future holds,” Gould said in an interview Tuesday afternoon.
The win is reminiscent of the 2019 election, which Gould secured with almost 49 per cent of the vote.
Brown, who is a business professor at Sheridan College, took 37.7 per cent of the vote — an improvement on the 33.2 per cent her party earned in the riding in 2019. A sport shooter, Brown’s platform promoted the rights to gun ownership.
Mail-in votes were expected to be tallied starting Tuesday. Burlington had the highest number of requests for mail-in ballots in the area at 5,720.
Gould held a celebration Monday night at The Poacher pub in downtown Burlington with about 60 volunteers.
“I can’t express my gratitude enough to the people of Burlington,” she said. “I’m going to keep fighting for them every single day in Ottawa.”
In 2017, Gould became the youngest female cabinet minister in Canadian history after being appointed minister of democratic institutions at 29 years old.
Most recently she served as minister of international development.
Now 34, Gould ran on a campaign emphasizing child care and tackling poverty and climate change. Among her party’s promises were to introduce $10per-day child care in most of the country.
This will be her third term serving the urban riding. She was first elected in 2015.