Bob Bratina was confident of Hamilton East-Stoney Creek victory

He said he would do it, and he did. Bob Bratina, former Hamilton mayor, has become an MP for Hamilton East-Stoney Creek.

Bratina, who was a sometimes controversial mayor, pulled an upset over NDP incumbent Wayne Marston in Monday's federal election, earning 39.5 per cent of the votes votes to Marston's 32 per cent as of 1:20 a.m.

Bratina said he planned for this night back in March, 2014 when he announced he wouldn't run for mayor again. The Liberal party's federal prospects weren't even all that great then, he said.

But "I knew I could do well in this riding. It was a natural fit for me," he said.

And when Justin Trudeau's popularity grew, "I knew we were going to be very successful."

That sort of confidence has carried Bratina through 11 years of politics in Hamilton.

In 2004, the former radio host was elected as a Ward 2 city councillor, a role he served in for two terms. In 2010, he was elected as mayor.

His time as mayor was occasionally rocky, with critics saying he didn't always work well with councillors. But Bratina said near the end of his term that if he chose to run, he would win again.

That confidence panned out again on Monday, when he defeated the NDP incumbent as part of the red wave that swept the country and resulted in a Liberal majority.

Bratina said Hamilton now has two voices in the ruling party — his and new Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas MP Filomena Tassi — and "it's been a long time since that occurred." He hopes this helps Hamilton's infrastructure deficit.

Jesse Shea, Bratina's 22-year-old campaign manager, said name recognition played a big role in the campaign strategy. Older voters recognized his name, Shea said. For younger voters, "we talked about how well Bob did as a mayor," he said.

The victory also shows that the Liberals have finally shed their baggage in Hamilton East-Stoney Creek, Shea said. In 2004, the riding was a battleground between Tony Valeri and Sheila Copps, a bitter fight that turned off voters.

"There was a certain point where everyone got turned off Liberal politics in Hamilton," Shea said.

Now, "it was finally time to make amends and move forward. The demons of the past have moved on."

Marston wasn't available for comment Monday night. But David Christopherson, who was reelected as NDP MP for Hamilton Centre, attributed Marston's loss to the Liberal wave.

"As much as we felt fairly confident because we ran a hard campaign, when I started seeing people like Jack Harris and Peter Stoffer and Megan Leslie, all these big names, I began to get a little more concerned and realized this could be a night when anyone could go down."