Conservatives elected in five of eight Edmonton ridings

Edmontonianselected Liberal MPs for the first time in nearly a decadein two of theclosest races in Monday's federalelection.

Amarjeet Sohi, anEdmonton city councillor, won the Edmonton-Mill Woodsseat for the Liberalsby defeatingConservative candidate Tim Uppal by a narrowmargin of 80 votes.

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Randy Boissonnaultreclaimed Edmonton Centre for the Liberals, defeating Conservative candidate James Cumming by a margin of more than 900 votes. The riding was wide open when Laurie Hawn, the incumbent Conservative MPdecided not to run again.

Boissonnault and Sohi join Calgary Liberals Kent Hehrand Darshan Kang,who were also elected ending a drought by their party in that city going back to 1968.

Pollster Bruce Cameron said that while only five of 34 seatsin Alberta went to parties other than the Conservatives, the fourbreakthrough seats by the Liberals in Edmonton and Calgary aresignificant.

Cameron said at least some of the Alberta Liberals will be primecandidates for key jobs in the new government. He noted Anne McLellanbecame a cabinet minister and deputy prime minister when she wonEdmonton Centreunderprevious Liberal governments.

"So having a foothold, even though it's only a handful of seats, isvery important symbolically and actually structurally for the Trudeaugovernment," said Cameron, president of Return on Insight in Calgary.

While it was a narrow victory for Sohi,Coun.Ben Henderson said hisfellow councillor deserved to win.

"Amarjeet has just been such a champion for this area and has workedso hard and is so connected with thiscommunity," said Henderson.

Henderson added the outcome is "a huge loss" for city council but "ahuge win for this area to have someone with that kind ofdedication"as their MP.

Sohi defeatedUppal, who as multiculturalism ministerhad spearheaded the Harper government's ongoing fight to ban the niqabduring citizenship ceremonies, a contentious issue throughout thecampaign.

Uppalsuggested in a brief statement to his supportersthat he planned to ask for a recount.

"You deserve to know for sure that those numbers are correct,"he said. "And we'll look at them again this week."

Alberta result disappointing for NDP

AlthoughJustin Trudeau will lead a Liberal majority government in Ottawa, the majority of ridings in Edmonton and across Alberta still remained in the hands of the Conservatives.

ConservativeMattJeneroux, a former Progressive Conservative MLA who lost his seat in the May provincial election, waselected inEdmonton-Riverview.

ConservativeKelly McCauley handily beat Liberal candidate Karen Leiboviciby more than 5,000 votes in Edmonton West.

Conservative Ziad Aboultaiftook the riding of Edmonton Manning, beating one of the NDP's marquee candidates in Edmonton, Aaron Paquette.

Conservative Mike Lake wonEdmonton-Wetaskiwinwith nearly 70 per cent of the vote. Lake was formerly the MP in Edmonton-Mill Woods-Beaumont, which disappearedinboundary redistribution.

Conservative KerryDiotte, a former city councillor, defeated Janis Irwin of the NDP in Edmonton-Griesbach, one of three new ridings in the city.

Irwin said she and her team of volunteers campaignedfor two years. She was disappointed by the result.

"I was certainly hearing on the door that a lot of folks were looking for change and they were wanting something different," she said. "People were telling me, 'let's get behind you.' "

Linda Duncan regained her seat carrying the NDP banner in Edmonton-Strathcona, which she first won in 2008.

Duncan admitted her party had hoped to have more breakthroughs thanjust her one seat in Edmonton.

"There are some upsets here that are a total surprise, I think, toeveryone. But you can't say we didn't give it a good try and we had a fabulous group running," she said.

"And of course I'm very sad to have lost a lot of my crediblecolleagues in the House" of Commons, Duncan added. referring to theloss of seats by the NDP nationally.

The Conservatives won all butone of Alberta's 28 ridings in 2011.

The boundary redistribution meantthat there weresix new ridings in the province, bringing the total to 34.

The Liberals and the NDP wereboth hoping for breakthroughs in this traditionallyconservative province, especially on the heels of the AlbertaNDP's breakthrough in the May provincial election.

Edmonton Centre

Liberal Randy Boissonnault won the riding over Conservative James Cumming and NDP candidate Gil McGowan. The riding was held by former deputy prime minister Anne McLellan, a Liberal,before she was defeated byConservative MP Laurie Hawn in 2006. Hawndecided not to run in this election.

Edmonton-Griesbach

Much of the focus in this newriding hadbeen on the battle between NDP candidate Janis Irwin, an Alberta Education bureaucratand former vice-principal, and Conservative Kerry Diotte, aformer journalist and city councillor. Diottebested Irwin by more than 2,000 votes.

Edmonton-Mill Woods

This race was the nailbiter of the night in Edmonton. Liberal Amarjeet Sohiended up ahead of Conservative candidate Tim Uppalby only 80 votes, which will probably lead to arecount.

Edmonton West

Liberal Karen Leibovici, aformer MLA, Edmonton city councillor and mayoral candidate, lost her bid tomake a political comeback. Conservative Kelly McCauley won the riding by more than 5,000 votes.

Edmonton-Manning

Conservative Ziad Aboultaif easily defeatedNDP candidate Aaron Paquette andLiberal challengerSukhdev Aujla, who was second but behind by nearly 5,000 votes.

Edmonton-Riverbend

Former Progressive Conservative MLA Matt Jeneroux, who lost his seat in the May provincial election, is now going to Ottawa as the new Conservative MP for Edmonton-Riverbend. Jenerouxwon decisively overLiberal Tariq Chaudary, Green Party candidate Valerie Kennedy, Brian Fleck of the NDP and Libertarian Steven Lack.

Edmonton-Strathcona

NDP candidate Linda Duncanwonher third term as MP for this central Edmonton riding. Conservative Len Thom placed second.While the area has leanedcentre-left in the past, Conservative Rahim Jaffer was the MP until Duncan defeated him in 2008.

St. AlbertEdmonton

Everyone waswatching to see if incumbentBrent Rathgeber couldwin this seat as an independent after leaving the Conservatives two years ago. However, Conservativecandidate Michael Cooper won the riding by more than 4,000 votes. Rathgeber came third to Liberal candidate Beatrice Ghettuba.

Sturgeon River-Parkland

ConservativeRona Ambrose, health minister in the former government, won by a massive margin of more than 21,000 votes.

Sherwood Park-Fort Saskatchewan

ConservativeGarnettGenuisdominated his opponents by winning 64 per cent of the votes.

Fort McMurray-Cold Lake

Conservative David Yurdiga, the incumbent, is returning to Ottawa, after defeating Liberal Kyle Harrietha in a rematch of last year's byelection, triggered by theresignation of former MP andnow Wildrose leaderBrian Jean.