Lin Paddock wins Baie Verte-Green Bay byelection, as PCs snatch Liberal seat in landslide

Progressive Conservative candidate Lin Paddock has won the Baie Verte-Green Bay byelection, handily beating his closest opponent by more than 3,000 votes.

With all 52 polls reporting, Paddock secured 79 per cent of ballots cast 4,271votes according to unofficial results from Elections Newfoundland and Labrador.Liberal OwenBurt had 1,035 votesand NDP candidate Riley Harnett had 96votes.

Elections N.L. reported 5,402 votes cast out ofa possible 9,562, for a voter turnout of about 56.5 per cent.

Paddock will replace Liberal MHA Brian Warr, who had represented the district since 2015.

It was Paddock's second attempt on the district ballot. He ran for the PC party in the 2021 general election, losing to Warr by 171 votes.

The district, formerly known as Baie Verte-Springdale, covers 40 communities in the northern coastal area of central Newfoundland.

The byelection isthe second consecutive win for the PCs, led by Tony Wakeham. Candidate Jim McKenna turned a seat in the House of Assembly from red to blue in the byelection in Fogo Island-Cape Freels in April.

With a Paddock win, the Liberals still hold a majority of 22of 40 seats in the legislature. The PC win moves the party to 13 seats, with the NDP remaining at three seats. Two MHAs are Independents.

Paddock made headlines last week for comments he made during a debate in Green Bay about the provincial government recruiting doctors from overseas.

"We need to recruit in areas that love this, places like Germany where they adore the outdoors, not India and Pakistan where they will come here and then go to Toronto," Paddock said during the debate.

In an interview with CBC News days later, he called the comments "poorly worded" and said they weren't meant to be derogatory.

Monday marks the third byelection of the year in Newfoundland and Labrador. Another one will come later this year, following the announcement from Health Minister Tom Osborne that he will retire in July.

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