Just feet from one of five enormous flatscreen televisions, Nova Scotia NDP President Peggy Walsh turned to her companion, former NDP Leader Alexa McDonough, and exclaimed, “We’re painting the whole thing orange!”
As the faces of Halifax-area NDP incumbents flashed across the bottom of the screen, McDonough clapped and shouted, “Come on Leonard!”
Not surprisingly, the NDP dipped the peninsula up to its neck it orange paint, winning five of six Halifax-area ridings last night. The party also dominated Halifax-based ridings in 2006 and 2003. This year Halifax NDP candidates also received a higher percentage of the vote across all of these six ridings.
Leonard Preyra wore an orange shirt and a charming smile yesterday evening after winning his second election in Halifax Citadel-Sable Island. He said he was re-elected because he represented his constituents based on local rather than provincial issues.
“Halifax Citadel constituency has not returned it’s MLA since 1993, so it’s a great honour to be re-elected in a constituency that takes its politics seriously,” he said.
Halifax Chebucto incumbent Howard Epstein wore a similar expression. He won for the fifth time in a row because he earned his constituents’ trust.
“Elections are funny, you have to earn people’s trust every time,” the beaming New Democrat said, resting his tortoiseshell glasses on his forehead. “When it’s time for a change voters get it into their heads that if you haven’t earned their trust, that’s a tide the power of which nothing can resist, and we saw that dramatically in Nova Scotia this election.”
Halifax voters also re-elected NDP members Michele Raymond, Graham Steele and Maureen MacDonald.
The only NDP loss in a Halifax-based riding was Halifax-Clayton Park as Diana Whalen of the Liberals beat out the NDP’s Linda Power for a second election in a row.
