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LONG SAULT -- Veteran municipal politician Jim Brownell swept = to a=20 landslide victory yesterday for the Liberals, denying the = Progressive=20 Conservatives a chance at reclaiming a seat they believe has = rightly been=20 theirs.

Mr. Brownell, 55, takes over from retiring Liberal MPP John = Cleary, who=20 won the seat in 1999 from Tory cabinet minister Noble Villeneuve. = Mr.=20 Brownell had 19,605 or 51.2 per cent of the votes. Tory candidate = Todd=20 Lalonde received 13,968, or 36.5 per cent.

Mr. Brownell's victory over Mr. Lalonde was never in doubt. = Almost as=20 soon as the first numbers starting coming in, hordes of family, = friends=20 and supporters came out of all rooms of his house, cheering and=20 hugging.

"I'm overwhelmed by the tremendous showing of this = community.

"I got a feeling that people were listening and hearing what I = was=20 saying after the debate (on the local channel in Cornwall). I'm = going to=20 give the best representation that I can, using the higher level of = experience that I have.''

Green Party candidate Tom Manley received 2,093 votes or 5.5 = per cent,=20 and NDP candidate Matt Sumegi 1,630 or 4.3 per cent. Independent = Gary=20 Besner received 970 votes.

The Progressive Conservatives saw the riding as an opportunity, = but=20 from the start Mr. Brownell seemed favoured by many in the riding = because=20 of his previous political experience.

He served 14 years as municipal politician, first as = councillor, and=20 then reeve of Cornwall Township and South Stormont. He was also a = member=20 of council for the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and = Glengarry, and=20 was on several boards and commissions, including the St. Lawrence = Parks=20 Commission, which runs Upper Canada Village and Fort Henry in=20 Kingston.

His full-time job was teaching at elementary schools in = Cornwall and=20 Long Sault, where he lives. He retired about three years ago. He = also has=20 done extensive volunteer work in a community where his family has = farmed=20 for several generations.

During the campaign, he vowed to attract the kinds of = businesses to the=20 area that would expand and let young people growing up there stay = there=20 with good-paying jobs.

Mr. Brownell's standing as a former small-town reeve likely = gained him=20 votes in the Tory strongholds of Dundas and Stormont counties, = where the=20 Liberals won only about 20 per cent of the vote in the last = provincial=20 election.

Mr. Lalonde told his workers at the Ramada Inn in Cornwall that = "the=20 sun comes up tomorrow and life goes on. Jim Brownell may have won = the=20 campaign, but I have the best campaign team." He said his campaign = was a=20 good one, and there's nothing he would change about it, but the = Liberal=20 ran a "flawless campaign across the province.''

Mr. Brownell was "at the right place and at the right time. = we're at a=20 Liberal wave here in Ontario. ... No doubt, people of Ontario are = looking=20 for a change.''

He said: "I hope and I pray Mr. Brownell doesn't forget to = represent=20 everyone.''

Stormont-Dundas-Charlottenburgh stretches from the farming = communities=20 of Winchester, Williamsburgh and Chesterville in Dundas County = through the=20 hamlets and villages of Stormont and to Cornwall.

Slightly more than half of the riding's population -- mostly=20 traditional Tory voters -- live in the rural and semi-rural = reaches.

The other half, mostly Liberal voters, reside in Cornwall.

During the campaign, Mr. Brownell let his r=C3=A9sum=C3=A9 = speak for itself. "I=20 love to serve people, I like to fight for the little guy," he = said.

"I've had a lifetime of involvement in the community, and = that's the=20 kind of thing that will pay off."

His chief rival, Mr. Lalonde, is one of hundreds of Lalondes in = Cornwall; his father, Ray, was a Cornwall councillor and his = brother,=20 Perry, sits on council.

While Mr. Lalonde has been involved in service clubs and = charities in=20 the city, his r=C3=A9sum=C3=A9 ends there.

The 35-year-old Cornwall public works employee promised, if = elected, to=20 work to get more doctors and nurses for the area.

But in the end, he failed to ignite the imagination of voters = -- he=20 also proposed rotating cabinet meetings across the province -- at = a time=20 when the wheels were falling of the Tory bandwagon.

"I am running first and foremost because I am a believer in the = community," he said during the campaign.

Stormont-Dundas-Charlottenburgh

222 of 222 polls

Jim Brownell (Lib) .....19,605

Todd Lalonde (PC) .....13,968

Tom Manley (Green) ....2,093

Matt Sumegi (NDP) .....1,630

Gary Besner (Ind.) ..........970

Eligible voters: 69,388

The Ontario Election. Ran with fact box=20 "Stormont-Dundas-Charlottenburgh", which has been appended to the=20 story.