Liberals in the Long Range Mountains may be disappointed in their party’s loss in the federal election, but they don’t see it as something that can’t be overcome.Published Apr 30, 2025 • 5 minute readDon Bradshaw visited many parts of the Long Range Mountains while campaigning as the Liberal candidate for the April 28, 2025, federal election. FACEBOOKLiberals in the Long Range Mountains may be disappointed in their party’s loss in the April 28 federal election, but they don’t see it as something that can’t be overcome.Conservative candidate Carol Anstey took the win in the traditionally red riding over Liberal Don Bradshaw. On Tuesday, April 29, with the last of the 253 polls in the riding counted, Anstey’s vote count was at 23,232 while Bradshaw’s was 19,726.THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY.Subscribe now to access this story and more:Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsSUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES.Subscribe or sign in to your account to continue your reading experience.Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsRegister to unlock more articles.Create an account or sign in to continue your reading experience.Access additional stories every monthShare your thoughts and join the conversation in our commenting communityGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorArticle contentThe riding, which covers the entire west coast of the island of Newfoundland, was created out of the former districts of Humber-St. Barbe-Baie Verte and Random-Burin- St. George’s through a redistribution of federal electoral boundaries in 2012, and has a long history of going red.As Humber-St. Barbe-Baie Verte, from 1988 to 1996 it was represented by Brian Tobin, then by now provincial cabinet minister Gerry Byrne from 1996 to 2015. That tradition carried over when it became the Long Range Mountains, which was represented by retiring MP Gudie Hutchings for the past decade.Not unexpectedBradshaw watched the vote results on Monday from the Glynmill Inn in Corner Brook.“It was interesting to see the results, how it turned out,” he said the following day.Article content“Obviously, it’s disappointing, but it was not totally unexpected. Carol has had the better part of four years to campaign, and we had about four of five weeks.”That’s not an excuse, he points out, that’s reality.“The good thing about being in Canada and being in a democracy is, no matter how much people chirp about the results beforehand, we ask every person in the riding what they think on election day, and they tell us, and we have to live with the choice,” he said. “And we asked them, and they decided to go in the other direction, and you have to accept that.” Gary Oke, former Liberal MP Gudie Hutchings and Katrina Basha watched the election results at the Glynmill Inn in Corner Brook on Monday, April 28, 2025. Photo by Diane Crocker/THE TELEGRAMAnd Bradshaw doesn’t think the loss has crumbled the party in the riding.“I don’t think they need to build back. If you look at the results last night, we got over 19,000 votes.”Article contentWith the final poll still not reported when he spoke with The Telegram, Bradshaw said they could be touching on potentially 20,000 votes.“That’s about 4,000 more than Miss (Gudie) Hutchings got in the last election when she won. So, there’s still an awful lot of support out there for the Liberal Party in the Long Range Mountains. I don’t think this is a condemnation of the Liberal Party, in any sense of the word,” he said.“It’s just this was an election where a lot of voters obviously got out and we just need to work a little harder next time to make sure that some of those people who might be undecided or might be swayable, they might come back to the Liberal side.”‘No regrets’Nathan Canning, Bradshaw’s campaign manager, said there is not much the team could have done differently.Article content“We really put all the resources we had into it, worked hard for it, and you know, sometimes, it just doesn’t go our way,” he told The Telegram.“Don only had a short runway. Six weeks is not a lot of time to get a campaign going from scratch right off the bat. So, there was a time constraint, but we did a lot and packed a lot into those six weeks.”They were also facing an opponent who had been through this before, as Anstey had previously run in the 2021 general election.“She had a team that worked through all of this with her previously,” he said, which gave her a head start.“So, you know, we were going up against somebody who was well organized, well prepared and had done a lot of work that we only got to do within the writ period.”Article contentCanning said Bradshaw’s campaign was functioning well and the team worked hard.“No regrets, honestly. We did what we could, and sometimes, it just doesn’t go your way,” said Canning. Mark Lamswood is the chair of the Long Range Mountains Federal Liberal Association. FACEBOOKNot going anywhereMark Lamswood, chairman of the Long Range Mountains Federal Liberal Association, said Anstey and her team deserve to be congratulated on the win.“The seat has gone to Carol Anstey and her team who have worked really, really hard for quite some time now to get to this point and to see those results come in yesterday,” he said.“She said in her campaign she wanted to change Long Range, so now she gets the opportunity to do that. I look forward to her being our representative, and hopefully, she’s able to accomplish the kinds of things she set out to do in her campaign.”Article contentAnd while the election loss may still be fresh, Lamswood said the riding association has already started to talk about next steps.“To pick up our boots and determine what it is we do next. But the governance around this riding association is solid and I’m proud of the group that are involved, and we’ll come up with what our next steps will be in the short- and long-term,” he said.“What Carol and her team were able to do. you really need to tip your hat. because the DNA of this riding, I would suggest, is red and has been for a long time. So, this riding association, this Liberal Party of Canada riding association for Long Range Mountains, isn’t going anywhere. We’re going to re-evaluate how we get ready for the next one, whenever that may be.”Article contentRead More Five candidates on the ballot for voters in Long Range Mountains Conservative Carol Anstey is the new MP for the Long Range Mountains What’s next for the candidateAs for Bradshaw’s future, the retired journalist hasn’t thought too much about what’s going to happen.“I’m going to put my feet up for a little bit and just catch my breath, and you know, who knows what’s down the road? I could be retired for good, or if something else comes along, I may entertain that. I’m certainly not dismissing any potential options.”Except for one, and that’s running provincially“That’s not going to happen. I’ve already thought about that and said no, I’m not going to run provincially, but we’ll see what else is out there down the road,” said Bradshaw.Article content
Riding association plans to look at what its next steps will be
