Liberal Matt DeCourcey posts win in Fredericton

The Fredericton riding returned to the Liberal fold in Monday night's federal election, with Matt DeCourcey claiming victory over former cabinet minister Keith Ashfield.

DeCourcey was declared elected with 50.1 per cent of the vote in his favour with 35 of 170 polls reporting.

Ashfield stood in second with 28.3 per cent of the vote.

Green Party candidate Mary Lou Babineau was running ahead of NDP candidate Sharon Scott-Levesque, with Babineau having 12 per cent support compared to 9.5 for Scott-Levesque.

Ashfield won the riding comfortably in 2011 with a 9,000-vote margin.

The former provincial cabinet minister served as fisheries minister in Stephen Harper's cabinet before health issues forced him to step down.

Fredericton has tended to vote for the winning party in every election since 1984. The only exception was in 2006 when Andy Scott won his fifth term as MP but the Conservatives formed a minority government.