Vecchio wins in Elgin-Middlesex-London

Conservative candidate Karen Vecchio, middle, was greeted by her former employer and retiring Elgin-Middlesex-London MP Joe Preston, left, and her campaign manager Brian Clements as she arrived at her victory party at Boston Pizza in St. Thomas at about 10:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 19 after she was declared the winner of the federal election for the riding. As of 11:30 p.m. that night with 197 of 219 polls reporting, Mrs. Vecchio had received just under 50 percent of the total votes cast, with more than 25,200, in Elgin-Middlesex-London. Liberal candidate Lori Baldwin-Sands was a distant second with just over 15,770 votes or just less than 31 percent of the ballots cast. New Democrat candidate Fred Sinclair had received slightly more than 15 percent of votes cast at just under 7,800. Across Canada, the Liberals had already been declared the winner of the election and would form a majority government with 191 seats and 41.1 percent of the total votes cast as of just before 11:30 p.m. To win a majority, a political party needs to win 170 seats or ridings in Canada. The former ruling Conservatives were to become the official opposition with 104 seats won at that time or 32 percent of the votes cast across the country while the NDP sat at 32 seats won and 18.4 percent of the votes cast.