Former Sault Police chief Hugh Stevenson has conceded defeat in the riding of Sault Ste. Marie-Algoma, ending what turned out to be a brief first try at federal politics.
Peter Burtch, the Conservative candidate’s campaign manager, confirmed to SooToday this morning that Stevenson's team is preparing to release a statement.
“We will concede,” Burtch said in a phone interview.
With all but one poll reporting (286 of 287), Liberal candidate Terry Sheehan has captured 29,974 votes — 1,502 more than Stevenson's total of 28,472. (You can find the full results HERE.)
“We’re going to have a statement,” Burtch said. “I just wanted to let the chief rest for a little bit. All things considered, I wanted him to spend time with his family and have a good night’s sleep.”
Both Stevenson and Sheehan were up until the wee hours of Tuesday morning, watching as the results slowly trickled in.
Although Sheehan delivered an early morning victory speech to supporters gathered at The Grand Theatre, Stevenson’s camp shut down their watch party at Centre Ice Bar and Grill without conceding the race.
Handpicked by Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre as a star local candidate, Stevenson abruptly resigned from his job as the Sault’s top cop to run for the party. He was considered a tough-on-crime candidate with the kind of experience and name recognition to oust Sheehan after three terms on Parliament Hill.
But as the campaign rolled on, Stevenson was increasingly criticized for skipping all-candidate forums and refusing to speak to local journalists.
COLUMN: Hugh Stevenson, why won't you knock on our door?
As previously reported, Stevenson initially declined to sit down for an on-camera interview in our SooToday studio — a local tradition during Sault Ste. Marie election campaigns. But on April 24, just four days before voting day, his team reached out asking if there was still time to conduct the interview.
You can watch the full conversation HERE.
Burtch defended the campaign strategy, reiterating that Stevenson’s top priority was to knock on as many doors as he could.
“I think we ran the best campaign we could have,” he said. “We had a lot of dedicated volunteers, a lot of dedicated people giving their hard-earned time for us. And for a snap election, it was run the best way we could have.”
SooToday asked Burtch if the Conservative Party had ordered Stevenson not to attend debates or speak to local reporters.
“Our orders were to door-knock as much as possible,” he replied. “Nothing could take away from the doors. We had to be at the doors meeting the voters where they are.”
Burtch was asked what he would say to people who initially wanted to vote for Stevenson, but chose otherwise because of the way the campaign was conducted.
“We always told them: We are out there, we are speaking to the voters and meeting the voters where they are,” said. “We went all the way to White River and all the way to Elliot Lake, door knocking all day everyday.”
Burtch said Stevenson is not disappointed by the results.
“I know for a fact that he ran on little sleep, door knocking everyday, meeting people where they are,” he said. “He did everything in his power that he could do.”
His message for local voters who did choose Conservative?
“Thank you for all your dedication to the cause,” he said. “And we wish Terry Sheehan the best.”
This is a breaking story that will be updated.