Preston byelection candidates make their pitch to represent the district

The Nova Scotia Liberal Party has represented Preston for 20 years, but Carlo Simmons isn't taking that for granted as he goes door to door asking for people's support in next month's byelection.

The way Simmons sees it, he has to prove that it makes sense to keep voting Liberal when voters already know there will continue to be a Tory government after the voting is done.

"I like the challenge," he said during a break from campaigning.

"We're kind of like the underdogs, I guess, because we're not 'the guys' — we don't have the trophy. So we're the guys that are going after it and I just want to let people know how hard I'm going to work for it."

The next MLA for Preston needs to be able to advance issues like the need for more affordable housing and better access to health care, said Simmons, who owns and operates a paving company. He said he's ready to be a voice for the district.

Simmons is one of five candidates in the byelection vying to replace former Liberal MLA Angela Simmonds. Simmonds, who stepped down in April about 19 months into her first term in office, has since taken a job with a Halifax-based law firm.

In 2021, she took 43.4 per cent of the vote. The Tories received 28.7 per cent of the vote, while the NDP was a close third with 27.9 per cent.

The Tories are hoping to close that gap this time around and pick up a seat they've not held since 2003.

Twila Grosse, an accountant and former airport executive, said health care is top of mind for many of the people she talks to. People can see the steps the Tory government is taking to try to fix the system, and Grosse said she thinks people understand the process will take time.

"This is not going to be a quick fix, a quick solution," she said in between knocking on doors.

"We're making incremental changes, but over the long term I think that we will see … our health care improve; things like wait times, number of doctors — I think we're going to see all of those things improve."

Just days before Premier Tim Houston called the byelection, he confirmed plans that had been in the works for more than a year to build a new long-term care home in the district. It will have an emphasis on culturally responsive health care in the heart of what is the province's largest historic Black community.

Voters seem receptive to having their next MLA be a member of the governing party, and a potential cabinet minister, Grosse said.

"They recognize that you are going to be at the table, you will be a voice, you will be able to take our concerns, our issues, directly to the premier. That means a lot and that's how things will get done."