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New Brunswick Liberal leader Holt hopes byelection will be ticket into legislature

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FREDERICTON -

Voters in a New Brunswick byelection will determine today whether Liberal Leader Susan Holt gets a seat in the legislature.

Bathurst East-Nepisiguit-Saint-Isidore will be the most closely watched of three ridings going to the polls to fill vacancies in the 49-seat legislature.

Holt, a former civil servant who has never been elected, is seeking to represent the riding after becoming Liberal leader in August.

The governing Progressive Conservatives opted not to run a candidate against her, but she does face a challenge from Serge Brideau of the Green Party and interim NDP leader Alex White.

The other two ridings with votes today are Dieppe and Restigouche-Chaleur -- all three elected Liberals in the 2020 general election.

J. P. Lewis, a political science professor at University of New Brunswick in Saint John, says the Liberal leader has a very good chance of winning but warns that a loss could mean challenging times ahead for the party.

Heading into the byelections, the Progressive Conservatives under Premier Blaine Higgs held 29 seats, the Liberals had 13, the Greens held three and there was one Independent.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 24, 2023.

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