A newspaper career spent covering elections could hardly prepare Kevin Gillies for the battle he fought as the Liberal candidate for the Abbotsford-South 91原创 riding.

And while Gillies surprised many by finishing second in votes to eventual winner Sukhman Gill of the Conservatives, he had dreams of doing even better.

鈥淲e had high hopes,鈥� he said from his campaign headquarters on Mill Lake Road. 鈥淲e thought the vote would be more split than it was (between Conservative Gill and Independent candidate Mike de Jong).

鈥淪till, it鈥檚 hard to be disappointed. We had a great team. The young people energized us.鈥�

The News is also inside candidate Kevin Gillies' office as he awaits the results. More to come

鈥� Abbotsford News (@AbbyNews)

The Abbotsford-South 91原创 riding was under the microscope in the leadup to election day as former provincial Liberal Party member de Jong was passed over in the federal Conservative nomination process, something that didn鈥檛 sit well with many party faithful.

While Gillies said he had no regrets, he did say covering an election used to be exciting during his reporter days, but 鈥渘ow on the other side, it鈥檚 nerve-racking.鈥�

鈥淓ven though I was a newbie, I did what I thought was right,鈥� he said. 鈥淢y team was great, the support from the national party was exceptional, and I gave it everything I had.鈥�

The election may be over, but Gillies knows there鈥檚 still cleanup work to be done鈥� and the need to process the last six weeks.

鈥淚t took a lot out of me,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 put my life on hold.鈥�

Tired and slightly dejected, Gillies said it was too early to think about whether he would give politics another shot.

鈥淚t鈥檚 too early to give an accurate response,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 just want to thank all those who supported me and I hope Sukhman Gill represents us well in Ottawa.鈥�

Gillies had collected close to 11,000 votes over 90 per cent of polls reporting at the time this story was published. Gill led the way with over 15,000 votes, while de Jong had over 6,100 votes.