Hours after the polls closed in the highly anticipated Toronto-St. Paul’s by-election there were still no clear results as Elections Canada blamed a nearly metre-long ballot for a slower than usual count.

However, when the fourth last of 192 polls reported just before 4 a.m., Conservative candidate Don Stewart jumped into a lead of nearly 500 votes.

Elections Canada had warned the public that the result in the midtown Toronto riding could popcorn buds take longer than usual because of the complicated ballot, but the campaigns were surprised by just how slowly the results trickled in on Monday night. With 84 candidates on the ticket, the federal elections agency had to implement a two-column ballot to accommodate the record number of names.

The riding is a Liberal stronghold that turned from a reliable win into an all-hands-on-deck push to the finish for the incumbent party as it fights against low national polling numbers, insufficient fundraising and an electorate hungry for change. The Liberals sent teams of staff and a revolving door of ministers and MPs to help the get out the vote effort in the final days. Despite the headwinds, Liberals were still expecting to eke out a win and the Conservatives were heavily playing down expectations, noting that even in the Liberals’ worst election result in 2011, they still won Toronto-St. Paul’s.

As of 4 a.m. on Tuesday, Mr. Stewart had 42.1 per cent, Liberal candidate Leslie Church had 40.5 per cent of the vote, and NDP ca bulk weed ndidate Amrit Parhar had 10.9 per cent.

Earlier on Tuesday, Ms. Leslie Church was in the lead popcorn cannabis and was introduced at her party headquarters by party president Sachit Mehra as the riding’s next MP.

“We are feeling great about the results,” Ms. Church said in a brief speech to a crowd of supporters that had dwindled significantly as Monday ticked into Tuesday. In a subsequent scrum though she insisted she was still waiting for all of the votes to be counted.

Until last year, Toronto-St. Paul’s was represented by Liberal MP Carolyn Bennett, who had held the seat since 1997 and in the most recent election won with a 24-point margin over the second-place Conservatives.

Late Monday night, Mr. Stewart gave a speech to his supporters in which he maintained it was too early to concede the vote. “We’re not there yet, but the night is still young,” he said, as he thanked his team.

In a brief scrum Mr. Stewart told reporters his campaign’s performance shows “the country is waiting for change.”

A p wholesale cannabis marketplace rotest group called the Longest Ballot Committee stacked the ballot with names to make a point about the first-past-the-post system being unfair. It has conducted similar protests in by-elections in Winnipeg a year ago and Mississauga in 2022.

“Given the unusual size of the ballot in today’s by-election in Toronto–St. Paul’s, our counting and reporting processes have been slower,” Elections Canada said early Tuesday.

The by-election was widely viewed as a referendum on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who, despite poor polling, has been adamant that he will lead the Liberals into next year’s federal election.

Prior to Monday’s results, Jenni Byrne, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s top advisor, predicted another Liberal win. Bu wholesale cannabis marketplace t she said a drop in the Liberal vote share could spell trouble for the party in other ridings in the Greater Toronto Area in the next general election, such as Eglinton-Lawrence, held by former public safety minister Marco Mendicino.

“This is an extremely safe Liberal seat,” she told CBC in an on-air interview, adding, “You’re going to see that we’ve done better than what we have in the past.”

Ms. Church is a long-time Liberal operative and staffer and most recently served as Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s chief of staff. Mr. Stewart has worked in marketing and finance and previously worked for Ms. Byrne. Ms. Parhar is a community organizer and director at a non-profit.

Before 1993, the riding swung between the Liberals and Conservatives. In Monday’s by-election, the challenges facing the Liberals were amplified by issues such as affordability, Israel’s war with Hamas, and the recent capital-gains tax hike, which have a more pronounced impact on people in the area. In response to the uphill battle, the Liberals sent a revolving door of cabinet ministers, MPs and Parliament Hill staffers to door-knock and work the phones.

The riding is known for its wealthy neighbourhoods, such as Cedarvale, Forest Hill and Wychwood Park – which feature large homes with sweeping manicured lawns. But the main thoroughfares are lined with small businesses, apartment buildings and condos, and the majority of households are renters. Statistics Canada data from 2020 show a significant income divide in the riding, with 41 per cent of people there making less than $40,000 and 43 per cent making $100,000 or more.

Affordability concerns were among the top issues on the doorstep, both Ms. Church and Ms. Parhar said in interviews with The Globe and Mail last week. Mr. Poilievre’s party has made affordability a key focus in its opposition to the Liberals, but in Toronto-St. Paul’s, the Conservatives were also hoping that anger among Jewish communities at Ottawa’s response to the Israel-Hamas war would give them a leg up in the riding, which is 15 per cent Jewish.

The Tories circulated a letter directed at Jewish households in the riding accusing the Prime Minister of “silence” on a rise in “Jew hatred” since the Israel-Hamas war began last fall and urged those households to send a message to the Liberals by voting Conservative.

With reports from Laura Stone and The Canadian Press