Conservatives flip Nanaimo-Ladysmith, Liberals surprise as runners-up

Kronis said her campaign has been “an incredible experience”, one built on facilitating a change in direction for the riding and the country.

“We’ve built a big, happy, positive team where our campaign was built on hope for the future and for making sure that we continue to work for the things that Nanaimo really needs. We’re going to be focused on affordability and housing and on making sure that we make a serious plan to do everything we can to deal with the overall crisis in the city.”

She said she plans to advocate strongly for Nanaimo-Ladysmith, to ensure the needs of community are addressed from a federal level.

An unexpected challenger
Liberal candidate Michelle Corfield was the big election night surprise.

Finishing fourth in past elections, behind the Conservatives, NDP and Greens, Corfield rode a wave of Liberal momentum nationwide under new leader Mark Carney.

She said a better presence for the party locally is a good thing for Nanaimo.

“We’ve raised all of the issues that we wanted to raise. We put forestry and the health tower as the front and center, I can’t be more proud of my team and the advancements that we’ve made, and the conversations that we’ve had.”

Corfield said she’s proud of the campaign over the last few weeks.

“I ran my campaign based on facts and light on people. Regardless of what they threw at me, what they tried to do to me, we still stood strong. We stood behind the principles and values that we believe in, and those are true Liberal principles and values and I’m very, very proud of everything that we’ve done.”

Lisa Marie Barron speaks with supporters after her election loss Monday night. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

NDP collapse
The fortunes of Lisa Marie Barron mirrored that of her party Monday night.

After winning the riding four years ago, Barron suffered the same fate as many of her caucus colleagues, including party leader Jagmeet Singh, by losing her seat.

“I just want to say that we ran an incredible campaign, we were bringing people together, we were doing the important work of making sure that we were not spreading division or hate,” Barron told supporters Monday night. “We did not stoop to that level, and I want to make it really clear that I am so incredibly proud of each and every one of you.”

Barron was locked in a virtual dead heat most of the night against Green Paul Manly for third and fourth place.

She said she wishes Kronis the best in her new role, but added she’ll continue advocating for the needs of people in the riding.

“I hope that the new representative for this riding will listen to what constituents are saying and move forward with what it is that people here need, because people are struggling. My hope is that she’ll do right by the people here in Nanaimo-Ladysmith because this is our home.”

Barron also alluded to vote splitting challenges in the riding, with the Liberals, Greens and NDP sharing a majority of votes cast.

“There’s clearly a lot of support and a lot of us that are all wanting to come together and make sure we’re moving in the right direction. We know that the progressive vote has been significantly larger than the Conservatives, if we put those votes together, so I hope that this will be time for us to reflect and come together and come out even stronger at the next election.”

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by NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

Conservatives flip Nanaimo-Ladysmith, Liberals surprise as runners-up

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