Kusmierczyk defeated in Windsor—Tecumseh—Lakeshore

In a stunning turn of events, Kathy Borrelli has beat the odds, winning the Windsor—Tecumseh—Lakeshore riding.

Borrelli defeated two-term Liberal MP Irek Kusmierczyk, who was first elected in the 2019 federal election.

As the polls began reporting, the two were neck-and-neck in a trend that would continue throughout the night.

“For all of my career and all of my volunteer efforts, I worked hard to help people improve their life situations. This job will be no different for me,” Borrelli told reporters.

Borrelli’s win is historic for a riding that has traditionally elected representatives from the NDP and Liberal parties.

Following a re-drawing of the federal electoral map, the riding, previously known as Windsor-Tecumseh, represents more than 131,000 people.

“I expected it to be close,” Borrelli said about her narrow victory. “We felt it out at the doors, we that we were in the running.”

Borrelli noted her main priority will be to help cut the cost of living, specifically for housing.

After all the polls closed and ballots were counted, Borelli garnered 45.6 per cent of the vote, beating the Liberal incumbent by just 233 votes.

Despite the results, Kusmierczyk said he was proud of the campaign he ran locally and is happy with the national results.

“Grateful for the opportunity. Grateful for the team that we had built. And, and again, just proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish these past six years,” he added.

Also in the running for the seat was Nick Babic for the PPC, the NDP’s Alex Ilijoski, Roxanne Tellier for the Greens, Beth St. Denis of the Christian Heritage Party, and Helmi Charif for the Centrist Party of Canada.

— with files from CTV News Windsor’s Chris Campbell and AM800’s Rusty Thomson