The Liberals managed to take a riding away from the NDP in a tight byelection race Sunday night, as the Conservatives captured a Liberal stronghold in Ontario and held a seat in rural Manitoba.
In the riding of Winnipeg North, Liberal candidate Kevin Lamoureux narrowly beat New Democrat candidate Kevin Chief.
The riding was left unguarded by 13-year NDP representative Judy Wasylycia-Leis, who made a failed mayoral bid in Winnipeg.
In the hotly contested race of Vaughan, just north of Toronto, Conservative star candidate Julian Fantino edged out Liberal candidate Tony Genco.
Fantino, the former chief of the Ontario Provincial Police, captured a riding that had been Liberal for 22 years.
It was formerly held by Liberal MP Maurizio Bevilacqua, who vacated the seat to run for Vaughan's mayoral job earlier this year -- which he won.
Meanwhile, Conservative candidate Robert Sopuck easily won the Manitoba riding of Dauphin-Swan River-Marquette. It was previously held by retiring Tory MP Inky Mark for the past 13 years.
The three byelections could represent a political barometer for the Conservatives' minority government, as speculation grows that a federal election will be held sometime in the spring, following the next budget.
Pollster Nik Nanos told CTV's Power Play that the Conservatives will likely heavily analyze the Vaughan race, looking at how Fantino's tough-on-crime message worked with voters close to Toronto.
