NDP candidate Bravo concedes Davenport to Liberal Dzerowicz
New Democrats hung last hopes of winning Toronto seat on riding
NDP candidate Alejandra Bravo has conceded, losing to Liberal incumbent Julie Dzerowicz by 165 votes in the Toronto riding of Davenport.
In a statement Thursday, one day after her campaign questioned if Elections Canada vote totals were the final tally, Bravo acknowledged she lost the race.
“While the election results were not in our favour, be proud of what we accomplished working together,” she wrote on Twitter.
“Let’s keep up the fight and continue building people-power and progressive politics in our community.”
“With such close results #DavenportTO has sent a strong message that we want to be heard in Ottawa. Congrats to our elected MP Julie Dzerowicz.”
The hard-fought battle had remained too close to call from polls closing Monday night, when the candidates traded the lead back and forth, until Wednesday night when Elections Canada showed Dzerowicz finishing with 19,860 votes to 19,695 for Bravo.
Davenport residents cast a total of 47,125 votes for seven candidates. The riding was the New Democrats’ last hope of winning a Toronto seat in this election, after NDP candidates lost other races in Spadina—Fort
York and Parkdale—High Park.
The Davenport candidates and their parties campaigned furiously, with visits by both Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh. Observers pegged it as the Toronto riding most likely to switch allegiances.
Bravo campaigned on issues including climate change and housing, arguing only the NDP would force “ultra-rich” residents and corporations to pay billions of dollars more in tax to fund social programs.
In an interview Thursday, a relieved Dzerowicz said she had asked her campaign to keep her in the dark until the final result was known. On Wednesday night, her three phones “exploded with congratulatory text messages.”
She said she understood why Bravo’s campaign waited until Thursday to concede given how close the vote was, as ballots were checked and rechecked.
“Believe me. the ballots were counted slowly, carefully, judiciously, and under very watchful eyes, so I have a lot of confidence in the numbers that were posted,” she said.
Dzerowicz said there was some overlap in the Liberal and NDP platforms, but she believes Davenport voters decided to endorse continuation of Trudeau’s fight to curb climate change and introduce affordable child care for Canadians.
Davenport stretches to Eglinton Avenue to the north, Ossington Avenue to the east, and the GO transit line to the south and west.