Liberals projected to win both Cape Breton ridings
Both Mike Kelloway and Jaime Battiste were incumbents
Redrawn boundaries and a star challenger were not enough to unseat the Liberals in Nova Scotia's two Cape Breton ridings.
Incumbent Mike Kelloway has been projected to win in Sydney-Glace Bay and Jaime Battiste in Cape Breton-Canso-Antigonish.
Battiste, a member of Eskasoni First Nation, was previously elected as the MP for Sydney-Victoria in 2019 and again in 2021.
"I'm feeling really good. It appears our campaign was successful," he told CBC News late Monday, after he was projected to win.
Battiste said he wasn't confident going into the race, especially going up against former long-time provincial politician-turned high-profile Conservative candidate Allan MacMaster, and taking on new territory when the boundaries of both Cape Breton ridings were redrawn.
"I had to start from scratch — 75 per cent of the riding didn't know me. But if this is the outcome, then I'm really proud of my team."
MacMaster said he believed fear played a role in his loss.
"I think a lot of older people were scared," he said. "They said they were scared. I don't know what they're scared of. If they weren't scared of the last nine years of Liberal government, I don't know what could be even worse than that in terms of being scared.
"But this is what they've decided, so I must accept it and so be it."
Battiste initially sought to run in Sydney-Glace Bay, after electoral boundaries in Cape Breton were redrawn prior to the election, but in the end he decided to go a different direction, forfeiting the riding to Kelloway.
This is Kelloway's third federal election. He was previously elected as the MP for Cape Breton-Canso in 2019 and again in 2021.
He told CBC News that he had more volunteers during this race than in the last two combined, something he attributed at least in part to concerns about tariffs from the United States government and his insistence on running a positive campaign.
"Right away, people wanted to help."
Kelloway said he believes Mark Carney as prime minister can find ways to unite the country, through supporting the construction of pipelines and finding ways to address the deficit and debt.
"He's a pragmatist, he's not an ideologue. So if something's not working, whatever that is, he's going to look to try to change it. That gives me fire in the belly."
With files from Tom Ayers and Kyle Moore
