SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. — Summerside has gone green.
After three election cycles, Liberal party candidates in Districts 21 and 22 have been unseated.
Incumbent cabinet ministers Chris Palmer (District 21 Summerside-Wilmot) and Tina Mundy (District 22 Summerside-South Drive) lost their ridings in the Tuesday night provincial election.
In their places are Steve Howard, who beat Mundy 1,302 to 938, and Lynne Lund, who beat Palmer 1,258 to 892.
“I came into this with no expectations and vowed to give it my all. I had great conversations with people going door to door, those conversations echo what the Island wants,” said Howard a few minutes after his win.
He described his win, and the night’s overall results, as “Island-changing”.
“I think we’re stirring up the old way of politics… it will never return.”
Lund, the deputy leader of the Green Party of P.E.I., lost in the District 21 byelection in 2016.
Now she’s taken the riding.
“When I got into politics, there wasn’t a lot of expectation for what we (the Green party) could do. But we’ve spent the last four years working to get here,” said Lund.
Now the next step is to get to work.
“We have to continue to have the conversations with the residents and keep going. We need to (create) a space for people to voice their opinions,” Lund said.
Following the final tally, Mundy described the results as shocking.
“It wasn’t what I was hearing at the doors. The majority of people I spoke with said they were happy with our work, they shook my hand and said they’d be voting for me,” said Mundy.
Palmer was also surprised by the voting breakdown, pointing out he came in third.
Earlier this week Palmer was asked if he thought his riding was one to watch.
His answer was no.
“I’m shocked. I thought this government was delivering on what the Island wanted. I thought a strong economy was enough to win it. Apparently, I was wrong. Even looking at the results, I still would have said no. I’m surprised.”
