MISCOUCHE, P.E.I. — As incumbent Liberal MLA Sonny Gallant stood fixated on the election results flashing across the television screen, one of his sons gently tapped him on the side.
“Breathe!” he reminded his father.
Gallant smiled, his attention momentarily diverted, but quickly went back to eyeing the election coverage.
A small cheer went up from the 20 or so people who had gathered at Gallant’s campaign headquarters in Miscouche when commentators finally declared his seat of District 24 Evangeline-Miscouche, safe.
“It was a very exciting campaign, but it’s good to have this one behind us,” said Gallant shortly thereafter.
Gallant won back his seat with 1,100 votes (44.6 per cent) while Green candidate Nick Arsenault got 761 votes (30.8 per cent), while Jason Woodbury received 575 votes (23.3 per cent) and NDP candidate Grant Gallant took away 33 votes (1.3 per cent).
Overall, though, the party did not do so well. The Liberals went from a majority government to third party status, with the PCs winning a minority government and the Greens becoming the official Opposition.
That titanic shift in status will take some time to get used to, said Gallant, but in the end he’s just in the legislature to represent his district to the best of his abilities.
“We’ll do our best,” he said.
Sonny most recently served as a minister of workforce and advanced learning.
