Actress Tina Keeper wins Churchill for Liberals

Liberal Tina Keeper sprinted across the finish line in first place in Churchill Monday night, ending a long, three-way race for the northern riding's seat.

The fight between Keeper and rookie NDP candidate Niki Ashton was too close to call for several hours as polling numbers rolled in, but in the end, a final push saw Keeper take the seat by just over 3,000 votes.

The incumbent in the riding, Bev Desjarlais, was elected as a New Democrat in 2004 but quit the party this fall. She ran as an Independent this time around, finishing in third place about 2,800 votes behind Ashton.

• CANADA VOTES 2006: Full results for Churchill

Early in the evening, Ashton appeared to have a strong lead in the race, but as the night wore on, Keeper gradually caught up and then passed Ashton as the vote counts came in from remote aboriginal communities.

Keeper, a Gemini Award-winning actress who played a police officer in the 1990s television show North of 60, said she tried not to let the early results get her down, recalling the 1993 race in which Elijah Harper became the riding's Liberal MP.

"I think that when Elijah ran that another candidate had been declared, and in fact when those last polls came in, that's where Elijah won the riding. So I knew that in this riding not to get too excited," she said.

Keeper, a member of the Norway House First Nation, said that as an aboriginal MP, she'll work hard to ensure Ottawa doesn't forget about aboriginal issues such as treaty rights.

• FROM JAN. 24, 2006: Manitobans elect 2 new MPs

Ashton, 23, was buoyed by the hard work of her supporters. She said she may one day try to run again for the NDP.

"So many people worked very, very hard, gave up so much time, so many sacrifices and so many people came out in support," said Ashton, daughter of Manitoba MLA Steve Ashton.

"We've taken the high road from beginning to end, and that's the way I'm going to keep it."

Unseated incumbent Bev Desjarlais didn't let her loss get her down, even visiting Keeper's campaign headquarters to give her rival a hug and a congratulatory message.

"There's nothing wrong with being a good sport when there's been a good, clean fight in place," Desjarlais said. "We were up-front and honest with each other through the whole election process."

Desjarlais, who represented the area for eight years, said she felt she had accomplished a lot for the NDP in the province's largest riding. Desjarlais left the party shortly after rejecting the party line in the House of Commons by voting against same-sex marriage.

Desjarlais said she's planning to spend more time with her family, and she has not yet considered taking another run at politics.

• CANADA VOTES 2006: Manitoba election results