Yvonne Jones wins big in Labrador; former MP Peter Penashue falls short

Liberal candidate Yvonne Jones has been re-elected in the riding of Labrador with a decisive win of 71.8 per cent of the vote.

"I just can't say enough about how grateful I am, and how proud I am, to be re-elected," said Jones from her victory party celebration in Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

"I'm very excited. I'm so proud of the people of Labrador," said Jones.

"They want to see hope, they want people working hard, they want people who are honest, have great integrity, and they saw that in our campaign, and they certainly saw that in our leader, and they came out in spades to vote for us."

Penashue places third

Jones first became an MP in a byelection in May 2013, after defeating Conservative Peter Penashue in a byelection. That vote was made necessary after Penashue resigned over allegations of irregularities in his 2011 campaign spending.

Penashue sought a comeback in this year's campaign, but ended up in third place with 13.9 per cent of the vote, behind the NDP's Ed Rudkowski, who won 14.4 per cent.

"Obviously it would be nice to get different news, but that's what it is," Penashue said. 

"The people of Labrador have spoken, and they made the decision to go with the Liberal party, again, and we accept that, we move on," said Penashue.

But Penashue said not to discount him from future political battles.

"I'm only young, I'll never say no at this point. I'm only 51, right? So we'll see what the future brings," said Penashue.

'Decade of darkness'

Jones said returning to Ottawa with the governing Liberals will be a vastly different experience than as a third party.

"I'm looking forward to going back with a lot more people behind me, and a lot more support in bringing those issues forward," said Jones.

"I think this is going to serve Newfoundland and Labrador very well. We've had a terrible decade of darkness in this province with a Conservative government."

Jones said she hopes to tackle more Labrador-centric issues in her next term.

"On my agenda is going to be jobs, is going to be building infrastructure. Ensuring that communities across the north, and across this province, have things like high-speed internet and cellphone coverage," said Jones.