Liberal candidate Kent MacDonald projected to win P.E.I.'s Cardigan riding
CBC News has projected that rookie candidate Kent MacDonald is the winner in the eastern P.E.I. riding of Cardigan, an hour after results first started to roll in.
With the majority the riding's 97 polls reporting, the Liberal candidate holds a lead of nearly 3,000 votes over Conservative candidate James Aylward.
NDP candidate Lynne Thiele, Maria Rodriguez of the Green Party and Independent Wayne Phelan were vying for third place, ahead of People's Party of Canada candidate Adam Harding.
MacDonald's supporters erupted in cheers and rushed to hug him as they watched the news that he was projected to win the riding.
P.E.I.'s easternmost riding of Cardigan is a predominantly rural area, and there's a lot of it. It's the largest in area of the four ridings, and has the most eligible voters, according to Elections Canada.
It's the only one of P.E.I.'s four ridings that does not have an incumbent candidate.
Liberal Lawrence MacAulay, the longest-serving MP in the Island's history, confirmed in March that he wouldn't run again.
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