Thursday's byelection in Waterford Valley has high stakes for Andrew Furey's Liberals

The byelection to elect a new MHA for Waterford Valley will be held Thursday, and much is at stake for the governing Liberals. After taking a former Tory seat in the winter, the Liberals lost two of their seats this year to the PCs.

4th byelection in 2024 comes after PCs clinch 2 former Liberal seats

Elizabeth Whitten · CBC News · Posted: Aug 22, 2024 4:30 AM EDT | Last Updated: August 22

A wooden ballot box. — The byelection to elect a new Waterford Valley MHA is Thursday, prompted when long-standing politician Tom Osborne retired in July. (CBC)

Constituents in the St. John's district of Waterford Valley will soon have a new representative in Confederation Building, and the stakes are high for the Liberals, who hope to keep the seat red.

Polls opened at 8 a.m. NT Thursday and will close at 8 p.m. Advance polls were held Aug. 15.

The race for the seat, which covers a stretch of St. John's south and east of Hamilton and Cornwall avenues and Topsail and Brookfield roads, kicked off when former Liberal cabinet minister MHA Tom Osborne, the longest-serving MHA in Newfoundland and Labrador's history, retired in July.

The Liberals have put forward St. John's city councillor and former Olympic curling champion Jamie Korab as their nominee, while the Progressive Conservatives are represented by Jesse Wilkins, a former Royal Newfoundland Constabulary and RCMP officer. The New Democrats are represented by Nicole Boland, a social worker.

All three candidates have told CBC News they are concerned about the cost of living crisis, access to safe and affordable housing and child care.

4th byelection in 2024

Osborne represented the area for 28 years, as a PC, Independent and finally a Liberal.

The Waterford Valley race is the fourth byelection held this year in Newfoundland and Labrador.

A collage of three photos: On the left, a man wearing a white polo shirt stands at a microphone. In the middle, a woman with long blonde hair stands in front of a microphone. On the right, a man wearing a blue polo shirt stands outside a home. — From left, Liberal Jamie Korab, New Democrat Nicole Boland and Progressive Conservative Jesse Wilkins are vying to become the next MHA for Waterford Valley. (CBC)

So far, the Liberals managed to swipe one seat from the PCs, while the Tories flipped two former Liberal seats.

Those back-to-back losses have put pressure on Liberal Premier Andrew Furey to keep the seat red.

The first byelection in 2024 was prompted when PC MHA David Brazil announced he was stepping down in the district of Conception Bay East-Bell Island. In January, voters elected Liberal candidate Fred Hutton, a former broadcaster who had served as a senior communications aide to Furey.

However, that victory was followed by the Liberals losing two seats to the PCs.

In April, a byelection was held in Fogo Island-Cape Freels to fill the seat made vacant after Liberal MHA Derrick Bragg died. That seat flipped from red to blue when voters elected PC candidate Jim McKenna.

Here's what the candidates of the Waterford Valley byelection say they bring to the table

3 candidates ready to campaign in Waterford Valley byelection

In May, the PCs kept up a winning streak by clinching the Baie Verte-Green Bay district, where voters elected PC candidate Lin Paddock. It was a byelection prompted by Liberal Brian Warr announcing he was leaving politics.

Win or lose, the Liberals will retain a majority in the legislature. Going into the byelection, the Liberals hold 21 of the 40 seats in the House of Assembly. The PCs have 14 seats, the NDP hold 2, and there are two Independents.

Download our free CBC News app to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Click here to visit our landing page