Upset: Liberal Bossio dethrones longtime incumbent Kramp

Hastings-Lennox and Addington Liberal candidate Mike Bossio centre) is hugged by supporters amid a cheering crowd at his election-night headquarters in Napanee. Photo by Samantha Reed, QNet News.

By Matthew Murray

BELLEVILLE – Liberal Mike Bossio has upset longtime Conservative MP Daryl Kramp in a close race for the Hastings-Lennox and Addington seat.

Bossio won the riding by a narrow 373 votes with a final total of 20,813 votes. Kramp finished in second with 20,440 votes, while New Democrat Betty Bannon ended at 6,217 votes. Cam Mather of the Green party finished at a distant last with 1,449 votes. Bossio and Kramp traded the lead back and forth all night. Only four votes separated the two candidates with the three final polling stations still counting ballots. The votes from those three stations pushed Bossio ahead of Kramp to secure the seat for the Liberals.

Bossio was mobbed by supporters at his Napanee headquarters when the victory was announced after midnight, and QNet News was unable to get a full interview with him. He did say, however, that his heart had been racing all night as he and Kramp traded the lead.

In his hometown of Madoc, Kramp said that he was proud to have served the Canadian people for as long as he had. Kramp had been seeking his fifth term.

“I have no regrets at all,” Kramp said, adding that “democracy has lots of warts and blemishes.”

Daryl Kramp, longtime Conservative MP, talks to supporters at his election-night headquarters in Madoc. Kramp narrowly lost the election to Liberal Mike Bossio. Photo by QNet News.

Hastings-Lennox and Addington riding was formed during the redistribution of federal ridings that began in 2012. Redistribution combined the riding of Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox and Addington with pieces of the former Prince Edward-Hastings riding. The riding consists of the County of Hastings, the County of Lennox and Addington and the section of Belleville north of Highway 401 (Thurlow ward). Towns and villages in the riding include Greater Napanee, Stirling, Deseronto, Bancroft and Madoc.

Historically, the two former ridings have leaned toward the Conservatives. Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox and Addington riding voted in Conservative candidate Scott Reid in each of the four federal elections since 2004. Reid won with over 50 per cent of the vote in the past three elections. Prince Edward-Hastings had a similar voting record, having voted Conservative Kramp into office in each federal election since 2004.

Bossio served on the council of Tyendinaga Township, where he lives, from 1998 to 2000. He is chair of Concerned Citizens of Tyendinaga and Environs, a group of residents opposed to a proposed expansion of the Richmond landfill in Greater Napanee, as well as being an adviser for Citizens Against Melrose Quarry, a group protesting the expansion of the Melrose Quarry in Tyendinaga. He also sat on the Centre and South Hastings Waste Management Board. Since 1989 he has owned Boscan Consultants Inc., which works in sales and marketing for the telecommunications industry. His website describes him as someone with a passion for environmental justice.

Prior to his political career, Kramp worked as an investigator with the OPP for five years. He has also run several small businesses in the Madoc area, including a bakery, sports store and restaurant.