TRURO, N.S. — It was one for the ages – a see-saw election battle that came down to the final polls before it was decided. When the dust had finally settled, at about 1 a.m., Liberal Lenore Zann was being declared the victor on most fronts over Conservative Scott Armstrong.
Most expected a close race between the two seasoned politicians for the Cumberland-Colchester MP’s seat vacated by retiring Liberal Bill Casey, but few could have predicted an outcome decided in such dramatic fashion.
Zann broke out on top in the early going as the polls began reporting in and maintained a lead of anywhere between 50 to 250 votes at any given time. But when 150 polls had been accounted for, Armstrong pulled ahead, though by a mere four votes at the time. He continued to hold the lead with 170 polls counted, 88 votes ahead.
But at 175 polls, it was again Zann moving ahead by a slim margin of 11.
It continued a back-and-forth affair with Armstrong ahead up to the 195-poll mark, just past 11:30 p.m.; but with 25 polls yet to come, Zann again went ahead, by 33 votes. She continued to add to her lead and was up 362 votes with just 10 polls to come in, and her lead steadily climbed from there.
It was a banner evening for Green Party representative Jason Blanch who finished third, ahead of NDP candidate Larry Duchesne in fourth.
After that, it was William Archer (PPC), Matthew Rushton (Independent), Jody O’Blenis (VCP), and Stephen Garvey (NCA).
More will follow, with interviews of candidates and the stories from their evening.
RESULTS
(220 of 220 polls reporting)
Lenore Zann (Liberal) 16, 672
Scott Armstrong (Conservative) 16, 219
Jason Blanch (Green) 6, 015
Larry Duchesne (NDP) 5, 3451
William Archer (PPC) 608
Matthew Rushton (Ind.) 232
Jody O’Blenis (VCP) 144
Stephen Garvey (NCA) 109
