Philip Lawrence wins third term in Northumberland-Clarke

Philip Lawrence all smiles after winning Northumberland-Clarke Monday night. Photo by Dan Jones, Northumberland 89.7 FM, LJI

By: Dan Jones, Northumberland 89.7 FM, Local Journalism Initiative.

Philip Lawrence will return to Ottawa for a third term representing Northumberland-Clarke. Lawrence defeated his closest rival, Liberal John Goheen with the NDP and Greens well off the pace.

The two frontrunners took more than 90 percent of the vote. Lawrence, whose supporters dwindled by 11PM, realizing the Conservatives would not form government, said he had mixed feelings as to the election result, happy that he won, believing change is in the air.

“Mixed results. We would have loved to have formed a government. But it's clear Canadians want change. To me, the big story is the collapse of the Democratic Party. Their support absolutely cratered. Our support was the highest since Brian Mulruney,” Lawrence said to supporters in his victory speech.

Lawrence ran a quiet campaign, focused on door knocking, but participated in several all-candidates forums and debates. He was humble in accepting the victory, acknowledging that approximately half of the voters did cast a ballot in his favour. He committed to working to represent their needs, hoping to gain their support in the next federal election.

“I realize that I was elected by I think a little under 50 percent. That means that 50 percent of the people didn’t vote for me. Let's be candid. I’m here to represent all those folks as well,” said Lawrence. “It was such a different election. Nothing was for sure in this entire election.”

Lawrence remarked that the election results demonstrate that Canadians want all parties to work together on potential free-trade negotiations or tariffs with the United States.