Jamie Korab holds Waterford Valley for the Liberals with byelection victory
Former St. John's city councillor maintains seat vacated by outgoing Liberal MHA Tom Osborne
Jamie Korab has won the Waterford Valley byelection, keeping the seat Liberal red in the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly.
With all 38 polls reporting, Korab's 2,067 votes, nearly 46 per cent of ballots cast Thursday, topped the 1,423 votes for the PCs Jesse Wilkins, a former Royal Newfoundland Constabulary and RCMP officer, and the 1,027 for social worker Nicole Boland of the NDP.
"When you ask someone to vote for you, you are asking them to put their trust in you," Korab told supporters at his election night headquarters Thursday night, Premier Andrew Furey and other Liberals standing to his left.
Korab will now be the MHA representing the district, which encompasses a stretch of St. John's south, including parts of Waterford Valley and the Bowring Park area, as well as the Kilbride, Shea Heights and Southside neighbourhoods.
Over the past 30 days, he said, he knocked on doors throughout the district, asking residents who they trusted to address the province's pressing issues — from energy resource management to the rising cost of living.
"The answer has come back and it's loud and clear, in my opinion, that it's myself and team Furey."
Furey, speaking before Korab, said after outgoing district MHA Tom Osborne decided to retire, Korab was "quick to put his hand up."
"It is Newfoundland and Labrador's time to shine on a national and international stage," Furey said.
"It's been a wild three and a half weeks," Boland told her supporters, who watched election results come in at a pub in St. John's.
Boland congratulated Korab on his win.
"And thank you to the residents of Waterford Valley," she said. "Being able to speak with so many of you was a privilege and joy even when the conversations were hard."
PC candidate Jesse Wilkins was watching results come in at home.
On social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, Wilkins posted he will remain committed to serving his community with "with unwavering dedication."
"The work doesn't stop here," said Wilkins, who congratulated Korab on his victory.
Korab's win shores up the Liberal Party's majority in the House, with 22 of 40 seats. The PCs hold 14 and the NDP have two, with two Independents.
The race was the fourth provincial byelection this year. In January, Conception Bay East-Bell Island voters elected Liberal Fred Hutton to replace outgoing PC MHA David Brazil.
That win was followed by two losses for the Liberals.
After the death of Liberal MHA Derrick Bragg in January, his Fogo Island-Cape Freels district flipped blue in April to the PCs' Jim McKenna. In May, after the Liberal MHA Brian Warr left politics, the PCs won again when Lin Paddock was elected to represent the Baie Verte-Green Bay district.
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