Voting in the byelection of Calgary-Centre showed that Tory roots run very deep in Calgary, with Joan Crockatt winning by a narrow margin.
The latest polls before the vote predicted the riding would be a horse race between Crockatt and Liberal candidate Harvey Locke.
The Tories held onto the riding by the narrowest of margins – just over 1,000 votes ahead of Locke.
Crockatt’s predecessor, Lee Richardson, won the riding two years ago with 50 percent of the popular vote.
Many say that Chris Turner of the Green Party played the spoiler in the race, because votes that he earned in the campaign would likely have gone to Locke, not Crockatt, if he wasn’t in the race.
Elections Canada says the voter turnout was about 29 percent.
Two other byelections were held on Monday, and one stayed Conservative while the other stayed in the hands of the NDP.
Conservative candidate Erin O'Toole easily won the Durham riding, defeating New Democrat Larry O'Connor. That seat was vacated by Tory minister Bev Oda, who resigned after a series of controversies.
In Victoria, NDP candidate Murray Rankin found himself in a battle with Green Party hopeful Donald Galloway, but with nearly all the polls reporting, he had extended his lead to more than 1,000 votes. He replaces fellow New Democrat Denise Savoie, who resigned earlier this year over health issues.
The full results from Elections Canada for Calgary-Centre are as follows:
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % Votes |
|---|
| Conservative | Joan Crockatt | 10,201 | 36.9 |
 |
| Independent | Antoni Grochowski | 141 | 0.5 |
|
| Liberal | Harvey Locke | 9,034 | 32.7 |
|
| NDP-New Democratic Party | Dan Meades | 1,063 | 3.8 |
|
| Libertarian | Tony Prashad | 121 | 0.4 |
|
| Green Party | Chris Turner | 7,090 | 25.6 |
|
| Total number of valid votes: | 27,650 |
| Polls reporting: 263/263 | Voter turnout: 27,650 of 93,984 registered electors (29.4%) |
With files from CTVNews.ca
