Dorothy Shephard at her campaign headquarters on the west side. Photo: Mark Leger.
Dorothy Shephard won Saint John Lancaster for the fourth consecutive time Monday, capturing more than 50 per cent of the votes cast in the riding.
“The people of New Brunswick are ready to have some stability and to see us take our province forward,” said Shephard in an interview at her campaign headquarters on the city’s west side.
Shephard, who was the minister of Social Development when the election was called, has served the riding since she won her first election in 2010.
The PCs won a majority government with 27 seats and captured every seat in the Saint John region. Shephard said she was not surprised by the sweep of seats from Saint John to Hampton.
“In Saint John, it’s about tax reform, it’s about the prosperity of our province and the economy,” she said. “Saint John sees the big picture and Saint John knows that our province can be prosperous. Saint John helps make our province prosperous. There are a lot of good things coming for Saint John. The port expansion is huge for us. The CP Rail line in Maine, that purchase is going to be revolutionary for our business in Saint John. So we know we can be on a path to prosperity. We will be on a path to prosperity.”
Shephard says voters were very engaged on the campaign trail, and not anxious about an election in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. She said they appreciated the stable government provided by the party over the past two years, even in a minority situation.
“This was a very different campaign, so the telephone became our best friend,” she said. “But at the same time, I’ve never [been in] a campaign where I was approached so many times in parking lots and on the sidewalk; people coming up to me and saying, ‘Dorothy, I’m voting for you, my family is voting for you. We know what we have with you. We know that we have stability and a party that wants to see our province succeed.'”
Shephard won the riding with 3,560 votes.
Liberal candidate Sharon Teare finished second in the riding with 1,471 votes. Teare could not be reached for comment Monday night.
Joanna Killen of the Green Party came third with 938 votes.
