When this riding first took shape at the 1995 election, it was a landslide victory for the Liberal Party. The Liberals came in first place here with 3719 votes to the runnerup’s 1873. The runnerup that year? The no longer existant Confederation of Regions. The PCs came in third with 1759. A lot has changed since 1995. Since 1999, with Keith Ashfield’s victory, New Maryland-Sudbury has been securely conservative. Ashfield ran for re-election twice, each time soundly crushing all opponents. Ashfield eventually gave up his seat in the NB legislature to go on to Ottawa as Member of Parliament for Fredericton but left the MLA spot in the hands of fellow PC Jack Carr.
Jack Carr thoroughly beat his Liberal opponent in 2010; 4097 to 1502. During the Ashfield/Carr era, the NDP have been locked in third place and seemingly unable to crack 1000 ballots of support (they tend to garner only a few hundred votes here). 2010 was the first time the riding had the option of voting Green, but only 291 residents decided to take up that offer.
1995 is a distant memory indeed. But this year, the riding will not be defended by the reigning Carr, but rather his younger brother Jeff Carr. Jeff was an assistant to brother Jody Carr, another MLA and minister under David Alward. The Carr name is a staple in Fredericton, but this would be Jeff’s first time serving firsthand.
The Liberal challenger, oddly enough, is Mike Pearson. No relation to Mike Pearson, the late prime minister. If voters have supported the Carrs in the past for their family connection to the military, they’ll love Pearson. Pearson was, before retirement, the Commander at Base Gagetown. He was also a Brigadier General stationed in the Middle East as a foreign diplomat. He won numerous medals for his Middle Eastern service including the United States Legion of Merit and the Canadian Meritorious Service Cross. As Commander at Base Gagetown, Pearson has worked firsthand with the provincial and municipal governments. Folks on the left and right can love this candidate.
The New Democrats hope to break free of their third place curse in New Maryland-Sudbury by presenting one of thteir best candidates; Aimee Foreman. Foreman has degrees from the University of New Brunswick and Sir Wilfrid Laurier University. She has worked tirelessly for various at-risk youth and youth-in-transition programs across the province. She operates her own consulting firm, a wildly successful firm at that.
The Greens are running Kelsey Adams, an accounting and payroll student at Eastern College.
It’s difficult to imagine anyone breaking the Tory stranglehold on this riding. Even with Premier David Alward’s plummeting approval rating, the ever-rising unemployment, and cuts to esssential services; this is the Tories’ backyard.
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