Colchester North candidates reflect on election outcome
PC candidate Rebecca Taylor may have lost in her first bid as a provincial candidate but she survived the election with her sense of humour fully intact.
“I only got bitten once, in the last hour of the campaign,” she said, commenting on the number of dogs she encountered in her door-to-door foray across the large, Colchester North Riding.
What kind of dog was it? “A Liberal dog,” she deadpanned, with a laugh. “It was a lot of bark and not much bite.” Ouch.
Despite being a novice candidate, Taylor came within striking distance of defeating the Liberals’ veteran incumbent, Karen Casey, by a margin of 429 votes.
Casey received 3,654 votes to Taylor’s 3,215. That’s in stark contrast to the 2013 election when Casey made her first bid as a Liberal, after serving two previous terms as a Progressive Conservative MLA. In that election, Casey received 5,005 votes compared to
PC candidate John K. MacDonald, who placed second with 2,167 votes, a difference of 2,838 ballots.
Although Taylor expressed disappointment at not being able to proceed “on the great plans” espoused by the PC Party during the month-long election campaign,
the outcome left her feeling far from discouraged.
“I’m feeling good. We ran a great campaign,” she said, following the Tuesday election. “I’m not stopping. The next campaign starts today.”
One of the biggest lessons learned during the campaign, Taylor said, was that provincial politics is not just about the candidates
who are seeking votes.
“It’s about the people. About hearing people’s stories and what they want.”
And Taylor said people within the riding can expect to see her face again when the next election is called in about four years’ time.
“I hope people don’t think that I’m giving up on them and I hope they don’t give up on me.”
Casey, meanwhile, said she felt confident during her door knocking that she would be able to retain her seat.
“It was a good campaign. I pride myself on having a clean campaign,” she said. “I don’t attack my opponents and I just talked to my constituents, listened to my constituents and obviously they want me back.”
Casey said the repeated message she received was that people appreciate what she has done for them over the past 11 years and how the door to her constituency office is always open.
“They know that I’m there and I will work beside them,” she said. “And that is what I am hearing. And they just appreciate it and they want me to continue doing that.”
As for remaining in her post as Education Minister, Casey said that’s not her decision.
“That’s entirely up to the premier,” she said.
Like Taylor, first-time NDP candidate James Finnie also expressed disappointment “… that we didn’t get the chance to make things better.”
But he offered congratulations to both of his opponents and appeared pragmatic about the outcome.
“It is what it is at the end of the day and the people of Colchester North elected back Karen Casey,” he said.
As for whether he would run again, Finnie said he will deal with that premise when the time comes.
“We’ll just have to see what the landscape looks like the next time an opportunity arises,” he said.